Something Blue: The Other Life
by Vikky Cutter
Summary: Sequel to "Something Blue". Lisitza, formerly Fox, McCloud has returned to Corneria, only to discover that a vixen without a past has a great deal of trouble creating a future.
1. Never the Same Anymore

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

1: Never the Same Anymore

The chill off the small observation bubble filled the air and pressed down through the fur that covered Lisitza's body. The blue vixen resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself to try to keep warm, her tail already curled about her leg.

Below her spun the blue and green globe of Corneria. Her home... or at least it had been. She wasn't sure where she was from anymore. Just one more thing in her life that was unsure. She had no idea what to do anymore. She had thought she knew, and believed it would all just work as it had used to, but it simply hadn't.

The journey from Sauria had taken six weeks, and six weeks was suppose to have been long enough to build a new life, but nothing had come of it. She hadn't yet learned to live with her new self. If anything she felt even more out of sorts with her new body. The money they had earned on the last job had run thin with surprising speed. There was enough to pay the landing fees, and refuel the ships, but not much past that.

They had tried to find a new job on the way back, but no one wanted to hire the Star Fox team without Fox McCloud. The people searching out the team were not interested in hiring an unheard of vixen, even backed up by Falco.

With a sigh the vixen ran her hands through her hair. She was going to have to start with small jobs again, the sort of jobs the team would scoff at in the past. It would be a way to make a name for herself as part of the team. Things would become even more complicated when her plans came to fruition.

There was a familiar lurch as the orbital thruster fired and slowed The Great Fox just slightly, enough to bring it into a holding orbit around the planet.

It had been two years since she had last set foot on Corneria, and then she had been a male.

The planet seemed to turn under her as they moved over the darkside. City lights twinkled in the darkness, outlining the edges of the continent and the main highways between the cities. The world grew large in the window as the rotation seemed to slow; she was familiar with the approach and knew they would be landing soon.

Turning around Lisitza keyed open the door, stepping back inside the ship itself. The warm air filled her lungs and quickly washed away the chill from her thin ears. Taking a deep breath she turned to walk towards the bridge only to find that she wasn't alone in the hallway.

Krystal was waiting for her in the hallway, dressed in a brown jumpsuit that was unflattering to her figure. In hung in bags off her shoulders and hips, and clashed with the natural blue of her fur. The only highlight came from the two jewels that she wore, one hanging around her neck and the other from a small tiara that placed the jewel right between her eyes.

"I thought I would find you here," Krystal said to her twin, her voice rolling in her strange accent.

"Don't you have your own ship to land?"

"Not today. I'm staying docked in The Great Fox, I'll get my own slip once we reach the ground."

Lisitza looked at her twin sister. Two months ago she hadn't even know the vixen had existed and now they were identical in every way. "Your ship hardly fits inside the docking bay. You had better double check your tie downs."

"Slippy and I went over them three times," she said, holding up three fingers as well.

"Good, he'll be sure they are tight." The toad hadn't been very kind to either vixen, but he wouldn't do anything to risk the ship.

Krystal nodded and looked closer at her. "You aren't looking well. Are you okay?"

The other vixen snorted and started to walk away, heading up toward the bridge. She wrapped her arms behind her back, her paws grabbing tightly at her wrists. The older of the pair followed a few steps beside.

"Why would I be okay? I'm about to return to a world where I don't officially exit. Nothing I own is in my name, not even this ship," Lisitza replied.

"You said your general friend will fix that, won't he?"

She flicked her tail and shrugged her shoulders. "He's doing what he can, but nothing will be official until I meet with him after we land. Even so, there's only so much he can do."

Krystal nodded and fell into silence as the two vixens climbed up the narrow stairway to the top level of the ship. Together they started down the long hallway, past the crew quarters and over the goose neck to the bridge. As they neared the door, the older vixen fell a few feet behind her twin.

Lisitza keyed open the bridge door and stepped inside. ROB was standing at the navigation controls, flying the ship with his usual lack of precision. Peppy was at the communications station, chatting with traffic control and Falco was perched in the captain's chair, his head leaning back and snoring softly.

The vixen frowned a bit at this and walked over to the center chair, looking at the falcon. His blue feathers were askew, pushed out of shape from pressing his head against the back of the chair. His tongue was lolled out of the side of his beak and fluttering as he snored.

"He's kind of cute like that. More the pity, considering how he acts the rest of the time," Krystal said.

Much to the other vixen's distaste, there was a part of her that felt the same way. Feelings like that bothered her a great deal. Until her transformation she was only interested in women, but her orientation had changed with her gender. She wasn't sure she could ever accept that men were now her primary interest.

Finally she snorted. "It's about the only time he looks cute," she said, then kicked the falcon's legs. He jumped slightly and sputtered, his head snapping forward to look at the vixens around him.

"Falco?" Lisitza said in a casual tone.

He looked between the two vixens; sleep still in his eyes plus a bit of lust. "Tell me I'm dreaming and I'll escort you both back to my room."

The vixen clenched her jaw slightly. "This is no dream. This is my ship and you are in my chair. Now get out of it!" she snapped.

He paused from a moment, a frown crossing over his flexible beak. "Damn it Liz, you're no fun." He climbed out of the chair, quickly brushing the feathers of his crest back into place.

She snapped her tail in frustration. "Do not call me that. My name is Lisitza, not Lisa, not Liz and not Hot Pants," she said, partly in annoyance but with some amusement creeping into her voice. Her old friend had been gone for years, and even though he had returned at the same time she had been changed, she was happy to have him back.

"All right BV, don't get your panties in a knot," he said with a smirk and walked to the back of the bridge, pulling out one of the extra chairs kept there. Krystal took her own seat a little bit away, just out of range of the falcon's reach.

"Where's Slippy?" the vixen asked as she sat down in the captain's chair. The lack of her engineer worried her a little bit.

"He's working on my fighter. The plasma lock went out again," Falcon said.

Turning her chair around she looked at the falcon. "I'm not surprised; it's a mish-mash of about twenty fighters. It's amazing that it hasn't blown up around you," she replied with a small smirk.

He smirked back at her and shook his head, but said nothing at all.

The vixen turned back to look at the view screen that covered the front of the bridge, the planet growing larger under them.

"How long until we touch down?"

"Twenty-six minutes," ROB replied.

She nodded and relaxed back into her seat, trying not to focus on the planet below. So many things had changed in the last two months and she was so much younger than before. Her new body was almost as old as her friendship with Falco. She had gained a lifetime, but the cost was so high.

"Pepper will have a car waiting for you as soon as we touch down," Peppy said, the older hare looking up from his controls.

"I'm not surprised," she said in return. Reaching down she pulled a data screen from the side of her chair. Jabbing at it with a finger she brought up her new back story. She and Krystal had worked it out over the last month. It was enough information to make her a real person, at least in the eyes of the law, but everything else was still in limbo.

She reviewed the information for what seemed to be the hundredth time, trying to commit every piece of it to memory. It was her life, she had to know it effortlessly, but it was hard to be so honest about a lie.

There was a thump and a jolt as the air grew thick enough to start dragging the ship. The robot started to adjust the flight, decreasing the speed for a warm reentry.

The vixen tried to relax, feeling the familiar shaking of the ship as it descended. The vibrations should have settled but instead they grew stronger, past the threshold she was familiar with. A moment later there was a lurch that forced her back into her chair and slammed at the base of her tail.

Carefully she said the data screen to the side and looked back at the hare. "What is happening with my ship?" she asked in a calm voice, but with a firmly set jaw as the ship jolted again.

"I'm trying to get hold of Slippy, but in-ship coms are shaking worse than the ship."

She nodded and held tightly onto the arms of her chair as the ship lurched and started to dive, a moment later she was slammed back into her chair as the ship started to rise far faster than it was meant to. That only lasted a few moments before they fell back into a dive.

"We're porpoising," ROB announced.

"I can see that," she replied, struggling to pull on her safety belt and cinched it up tight.

The shaking started to become worse as they lurched upwards again, flames starting to wrap around the front on the ship and over the window. Below them the ground was coming up far faster than it should.

"Someone get that robot off the controls!" she snapped out.

"On it," Falco said, jumping from his seat as the ship went into a dive, sending him rushing across the bridge to hit the controls with a gasp. Gathering himself, he pushed the robot away then sat down and strapped himself in. "Something is wrong with the control systems," he said, trying to level out the ship, but it still went nose up again.

There was a strained hissing and a pop as the hydraulics gave out of the bridge door and Slippy rushed into the room. "We've lost left stability and the gravity drives aren't shutting down," he said as he pulled himself to the engineering station.

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm trying!" he replied as his hands worked quickly over the controls.

An alarm sounded in the bridge, a loud klaxon wailing around them as bright orange and white lights starting to spin against the ceiling, giving everything a strange glow.

"Hull temperature is critical," Slippy said, yelling over the alarm.

The ship started to roll to the right. Falco said something that was lost over the alarm and twisted the controls around, bringing the ship back upright but making the up and down motion worse. Low groaning sounds filled the ship, echoing along the goose neck behind the bridge.

Slippy reached down and pulled something out of his console and the alarm fell silent but the lights continued to flash. Outside the flames started to cross the view screen, covering almost all of it.

She could hear Peppy on the radio, calling in the emergency as the ship jumped again, still lurching. They were going far too fast to do anything safe; if they couldn't get the engines fixed they couldn't slow down to land, or speed up enough to get back into orbit.

"Falco, aim the ship at someplace empty," she ordered.

The falcon looked back for a moment then nodded his head. "I would really like to land in one piece."

"Then I need some help. Someone get down and pull the fuses on the gravity drive. I can't shut them off from here," the toad yelled out.

Kyrstal struggled to her feet and looked around the bridge. "Where are they?"

"Halfway down the neck! Just pull everything in panel twenty-seven k."

She nodded and dove out the door. Lisitza watch her go, the hallway bending around her in unsettling ways.

There was another lurch and the ship twisted in the air and started to drop rather fast. It only lasted a few moments before the ship righted itself and nose began to pull up.

"We have about twenty seconds before we lose the hull," Peppy said.

"I think I can drop more speed," the falcon said, twisting the controls again.

"I'm working on it!" Slippy yelled at the same time, pulling his console open and starting to pull at the wires. Sparks flew around him as he did something with the connections. There was a distant thump from the back of the ship as the vibrations started to quiet down. The ship wasn't stable yet, but it felt more controlled.

"The right stabilizer is out as well," the toad said.

Falco let out a sharp laugh. "It works for me, our speed is dropping, but not fast enough," he said, pulling the ship up and trying to hold it in position.

A new series of thumps filled the ship and suddenly everyone was trust forward against their restraints. "The gravity drive is down."

"Hold on!" The falcon said and slammed his hand down onto the control panel, the ship slammed back as the breaking jets fired. They were going far too fast for it to be safe, but there was hardly another choice.

As the ship slowed down the flames over the front of the ship flickered out. The up and down motion of the ship leveled out and the nose lifted slightly.

"Can we make the docking port?" Lisitza asked.

"Think so; but it's going to be close," the falcon replied as he start to turn the ship in a long circle. "We're too fast, too low, and have too little thrust." There was a note of glee in his voice as he continued the turn.

Krystal came back onto the bridge, looking a bit disheveled. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Unless you can rewire a gravity drive system, I doubt it,' Slippy replied, his head half buried under his console. The vixen sat back down at the back of the bridge.

A series of deep thumps filled the ship as the nose came back up, the ship settling out properly. "Stabilizers are back online."

"Good to know," Falco replied, bringing the ship wide around Corneria City, low enough that the buildings were clear in the morning sunlight. She could see the familiar lights outlining the docking port.

Lisitza could see that they were going too fast, but didn't think there was much they could do about it. If they tried to go around losing the extra speed they would never make it back to the docking port.

"Do we have landing clearance?" she asked.

"Any open slip we can manage," Peppy replied.

Falco banked the ship, turning it at a fairly steep angle around the docking port. They were coming in low over one of the outer buildings, other ships passing fifty feet under them. There was an empty docking slip in front of them, all the visuals showing just how low they were.

The falcon fired the breaking thrusters again, sending everyone forward. The ship twisted a bit and began to slow, getting closer to the proper speed. Before they reached it they ship touched down, skidding on the dock as the landing field grabbed at them.

They slid along the docking slip, the ship turning slightly as the landing sucked away the excess speed. They finally came to a stop near the edge of the slip, but in one piece. Outside she could see emergency crews rushing towards the ship.

"A perfect landing, as usual," Falco said as he unstrapped himself from the chair.

"Everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?" Lisitza asked as she climbed out of her seat, rubbing the base of her tail.

"Just a little shaken, but I'm fine," Peppy said.

"I'm a bit brused," Krystal added.

Slippy looked up from his console, his fingers pulling at the wires. "I'm shutting down all the primary drive systems and life support. It's going to take a lot of work to repair the ship." He turned his head around and looked at where ROB sat, folded against the back wall of the bridge, the lights of his systems out. "ROB is down as well."

She looked around the bridge and at her crew. "I'm going to need a repair estimate, after that we should all take the night off. I think we've all earned it."

"That's going to take time, Fox. Everything looks bad from where I'm sitting," the toad said.

"Take all the time you need, then get some sleep. We're going to have a lot of work to do in the morning," the vixen said, then turned around, walking out of the bridge. "Falco, come with me. Someone has to talk to the police and I have no standing to do so."

The falcon nodded and hurried after the vixen.

Krystal watched them go and looked back at Slippy. "Do you need any help?"

He looked up at her with narrow look and then shook his head. "No, you go with the rest of them, I can take care of this," he snapped, and then bent back down over the console.

The blue vixen stood in the doorway for a few moments, wondering if he would change his mind. When it became clear he wouldn't she turned and started down for the docking bay. "I'll be in my ship," she said.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	2. Slow Ride

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

2: Slow Ride

Lisitza and Falco climbed out of the lower airlock just as the emergency vehicles arrived at the docking slip. The vixen took a few steps away from the ship and turned, looking back at her ship as the sun climbed over the horizon. She lifter her hand to block the sun and looked over the ship.

The underside of the hull was scorched, the paint had blistered away, and the metal was melted in places. It looked like they had landed only a few moments away from a complete hull failure.

The damage ran along the underside of the goose neck. The nose of the ship, and the bridge, was covered in thick black soot. She could see lines of distortion where the hull had been bent from the porposing.

"I can't believe we landed in one piece," she said in a soft voice.

"It's a good ship, if a bit overbuilt," Falco said, slapping her on the shoulder.

She looked over at the falcon then over his shoulder at the emergency crews behind them. "Can you deal with them?" she asked.

"Of course. Fox is still in orbit?"

"A few hours behind. Try to be convincing," she replied.

He clicked his beak and turned away, tail feathers fluttering out as he walked towards the crew. She could see the head of the port and at least one reporter closing in on him.

Lisitza turned back to the ship and let out a sigh. The damage was extensive and was going to cost far too much to fix. Insurance would give them something, but more than likely they would want to scrap it instead of repair it.

She walked up to the docking bay doors. The locking clamps had taking a lot of damage, twisting out of true and melting in places. There was no way they would be able open them without a little persuasion.

Letting out a breath, she walked back to the air lock and climbed into the ship. Taking the turn into the docking bay she found Krystal looking over her own craft. She didn't bother the older vixen; she just went to the corner and picked up a tool box that had fallen over, gathering the tools that had fallen on the floor.

Once everything was back into the box she carried it back towards the airlock. Peppy was coming down the stairs, looking a bit worried as he cast his eyes around the docking bay.

"What do you think, old man?" she asked the hare.

"We need to pull the fighters out, check each one and then start tearing down the ship. I'm worried about the goose neck. If the structure is damaged it will triple the costs of repairs."

The blue vixen let out another long sigh. "Do what you can with what we have on board. I'll look into finding some new jobs," she replied, then went through the airlock and back outside.

The emergency crews had left, though a few official looking vehicles remained as well as the reporter who was in the process of interviewing Falco.

Turing her attention back to the broken door, Lisitza set the toolbox down on the tarmac. Digging out a force hammer she bounced it in her hands as she looked over the melted locks. She ran her other hand over the damage, feeling the cracks where they had melted and flowed together.

She adjusted the force hammer, holding it firmly as she pulled her hand back. She was about to swing it forward when someone spoke behind her.

"Ms. McCloud?"

The vixen let out another protracted sigh and looked over her shoulder, not all that surprised to see two of General Pepper's personal staff. Both men were in duty uniforms that were just a little bit too polished for the average soldier. The one who had spoken was a wolf and the other a very tall bear.

"Give me a few minutes. I need to get the docking bay doors open before I can go anywhere," she said, then turned back to the door, lifting her hammer again.

"The General said it was important that we bring you to his office as soon as you landed."

"That wasn't a landing, that was a low speed crash. Now back off until I'm finished here," she said, her tail flicking in agitation. She didn't even bother to look at the men as she spoke.

"We must insist," the bear said, sounding even more annoyed than his species normal would.

Lisitza snorted and brought the hammer down on the latch. The metal let out a creak as a jolt of power rushed from the head, increasing the power by a few order of magnitudes. It also sent a jolt up her arm; bringing out a soft yelp of pain.

A moment later she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her around. She found herself face to face with the wolf and very annoyed at his actions. The fact that she was unexpectedly a few inches shorter than him added to it.

Her first reaction was to strike the man, but she held it back. It wasn't the time or the place. "You will let go of me," she said through clenched teeth.

"You heard the woman! Back off and let her do her job," Falco said in a sharp tone from behind the two men. He stood with his feet firmly placed on the ground and his hands balled into open fists.

The wolf looked between Lisitza and Falco, a frown on his face. He let go of her shoulder and took a few steps back to glare at the avian. "Very well, but do not delay too long," he said in a cold tone. After a quick look at his friend, the two of them walked back towards the car at the end of the slip.

"I hate men like that, unable to think about anything past their orders," Falco said with a touch of disgust.

She shook her head in annoyance and looked back at the door. "I could use a second hammer," she said, dialing up the force of her hammer, and this time grabbing it with both hands.

"On it," he replied, picking up a second hammer and walking to the second lock.

Bracing herself for the impact she swung the hammer. It clanged against the metal, shaking the whole door. The impact still sent a jolt up through her arm, but the melted metal started to crack.

The vixen touched the crack, feeling along its length. With a smile, she took another swing at the damaged lock. It shuddered with the impact, the crack cutting all the way through the melted metal.

She bent closer, looking at the crack. It was clear and freed up the doorway. She dialed down the hammer to the lowest setting and took a couple more swings at the lock, breaking off a few pieces of metal to make sure there was clearance.

Beside her, Falco was doing the same thing, though with a little bit more speed. Together they took a few steps back from the door.

"That should clear it," the falcon said.

"Go inside, get the doors open and pull out the fighters. I'll deal with the boys in blue." A moment later she winced when she realized what she had said. Shaking her head she turned around and stared back to where the two men were standing.

She started towards them and realized she had forgotten her data screen. Turning around with a long sigh, she started back towards the ship, sure the men would be following her.

As she approached the ship, she was pleased to see the hanger door starting to slide open. She stepped through the widening gap and hurried under the fighters. She took the stairs two at a time and started running along the hallway towards the bridge.

Slippy looked up as soon as she entered, a surprised look on his face which was soon replaced with a little bit of disgust. She ignored it, picking up the data screen from side of her chair, and then heading back down.

The two men were looking very displeased by the time she returned to them. "Are you finished wasting the general's time?" the wolf asked.

She scowled at him and nodded her head, her ears laying back slightly in annoyance. "It's hardly a waste. Come on, let's go see the general."

The bear placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look up at him with a deep frown. "Do you have any identification?" he asked.

"Nothing appropriate, but you two clearly know who I am," she replied.

Letting out a snort the bear pointed to the open hanger bay and Krystal. "I'm not sure about that," he said.

She let out a familiar sigh and placed her hand over her face. "Call Pepper. He'll confirm it," she said.

The wolf glared at her and let out a grunt, but nodded his head. Pulling out a phone, he turned away as he dialed.

Lisitza crossed her arms and looked between the two men, her tail flicking along the back of her legs. It wasn't that unexpected, she had nothing that said who she was, and it would take work to fix. Everything would be easier if she could turn back into her old self, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

She was trapped in the wrong body, but one that felt just a little too right. She didn't like thinking about it and tried to avoid it whenever possible, but sometimes she just couldn't get away from it. There were times it was hard to ignore, like in the shower, or when she caught her reflection out of the corner of her eyes, but she couldn't hide from it in her dreams. She had taken to popping sleeping pills, but that wasn't always enough.

Finally the wolf turned back and carefully looked her over. A few more words were exchanged before he put his phone away. "The general confirms that you're the correct Ms. McCloud. Now you will come with us."

Nodding her head, she followed the two men off the platform towards their vehicle. The bear opened the back door and held it open for her. Once she was settled down, she closed the door and he took a seat in the front of the car.

The vixen relaxed into the seat, finding that it pinched at her tail. Adjusting herself a bit she brushed a hand over her fur as they started driving through the port. In a short time, they were past the main gate and onto the highway, heading into town.

In the distance, she could see the skyline of the city, the sun behind the tall blocky buildings. She had seen them from many different angles, she had even flow her fighter between them during the Second Andros Invasion. That had been many years before, when she was younger and male. That had been a good time, the team was strong and she had even had a steady girlfriend.

They drove past the edge of the city, heading toward the large military base that was north of the city. The base served as the military command center for the planet, and the defense force training academy. She had always hated returning to it. It reminded her too much of her past, of her childhood, losing her mother and her father.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	3. Once in a Lifetime

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

3: Once in a Lifetime

Lisitza walked into the waiting room of General Pepper's office. The secretary, a young lynx, just waved at her to go on inside. She walked quickly across the room and grabbed the handle of the door.

She paused before she was about to open it, a small shiver running down her back to the tip of her tail, puffing out the fur. Pepper had seen her in her new form, but that was over the hypercom system and as a grainy hologram. She wasn't sure how he would take it. He was an old friend, one of her oldest, and she wasn't sure she could face him.

The vixen took in a deep breath, her head dropping slightly as her shoulders rolled forward. She had to talk to Pepper; he had the tools she needed to recreate her history. If she couldn't step inside, she would simply never exist. Her ears dropped slightly as she wondered if no existence would just be easier.

Shaking her head she pushed the thought away. Letting her breath out, she opened the door and stepped inside the office.

Pepper didn't even look up. The old hound dog just continued his work for a few more moments before he set down his pen. "Hello, Fox," he said looking up and looking over the vixen. It was a casual look, sizing her up and nothing more.

The vixen sat down, running her hands over her pants as she threaded her tail through the back of the chair. "It's Lisitza now, sir," she said in a meek voice.

"I cannot help but notice that. What caused you to be late?"

"The ship tried to land in a few more pieces than I would have liked."

The general nodded his head. "When was the last time you tore it down for a full overhaul?"

She paused for a moment, biting at her lip. "The year my mother died," she replied. It was also a year before she was 'born'.

Pepper frowned a bit and folded his hands together on top of his desk, the white gloves contrasting with the dark wood. "Then I'm not surprised it was inoperative. You should take better care of your ship."

"I do what I can afford."

"And we pay you what we can afford. How will this affect your current jobs?"

The vixen shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her ears dropping down into her hair. "We don't have any jobs sir. It seems my new name doesn't carry the same weight as my old. Everyone wants the real McCloud."

He frowned just slightly. "That is unfortunate. You are my best pilot. I would hate to lose you simply because you cannot afford the upkeep on your ship."

"I doubt I'm the best anymore. My reflexes are all different and I haven't had the flight time to adjust." She frowned deeply as she spoke. The admission was painful to her. She was proud of her hard earned skills as a pilot.

Pepper looked closely at the blue vixen. "I will loan you money to complete your repairs," he offered, some of the formality falling from his voice.

"Sir, the damage looks extensive. It's going to need major repairs before we can even get off the pad. The army can't give me a loan of that size."

The old canine shook his head. "You don't understand. This is a personal loan. You're an old friend, and one of the few people I would trust with my life or that of my granddaughter. Send me the cost estimate and I will get you the money."

Lisitza lifted her eyebrows at this and smiled slightly. "I take I will be paying part of this back by giving Allison lessons?"

He laughed. "That is up to you and her. I won't force you to take her on. She still dreams of space, and talks about it every day. She belongs up there, with you, not down here with the old men."

"Thank you, sir. That's far more than you need to do.

"You are a friend, Fox... Lisitza, no matter what you look like, you are still a friend," he said with a smile, a small light dancing in his eyes for a few moments.

"Thank you, sir," she repeated.

There were a few moments of silence in the office as the general leaned into his high backed chair. "Now, I believe you have something for me?"

Lisitza nodded slightly then reached down and pulled out the data screen from her pocket. She frowned a little bit when she saw a crack across the display. She held it out for the general, her hand shaking slightly as he took it from her.

He held it gently in his hands, bringing up the display and reading it over. His eyes flicking across the screen, a flash of emotion showing on his face now and then.

The vixen leaned back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap, waiting for her friend to speak.

He took his time reading the data, occasionally his eyes flicked up to look at the blue vixen before returning the screen.

Finally he set the screen down on the desk, his face still a blank slate. "All of this is very interesting. Will it hold together?"

"Yes, it will. Krystal and I spent quite a few nights working everything out."

Officially she was Krystal's twin sister. Both of them had been born on Cerinia, but she had been put up for adoption while Krystal had been raised by their parents. Lisitza's adopted parents had taken her off planet, but they had been killing during the first Andorse invasion. After that she had bounced the orphanages in the outer planets, where the records were very poor, until she was of age.

Three years before, about the same time that Cerinia had been destroyed, and with it the last of her records, she and Fox had meet. They had married after a whirlwind romance. Her husband had trained her to be a pilot, to be as good as himself, and had just brought her fully into the team.

None of it was real, not yet. She was counting on Pepper to be able to insert the fiction into the right systems, making it real for the rest of the Lylat System.

"Why married?" Pepper asked.

"So everything will still be mine, once my old self has died," she said softly.

The general nodded his head, but tapped his fingers on the desktop, a sure sign that he was worried. "How will you 'die'? You are a hero to this system. You cannot simply vanish into the darkness."

"Fox was a hero I'm just an unknowing vixen. His death has to have the possibility of being reversed. There's still a chance that I might be able to turn back into myself, so I'd rather only be presumed dead."

A smiled pulled over the jowls around the general's muzzle. "And you have a plan for that, don't you?"

Lisitza flicked her ears back and nodded her head. She leaned forward in her chair as she spoke. "Fox will be lost in the black hole and presumed dead, just like my father."

"And just like your father, he can return from there. The black hole is under military control; how do you suggest getting there?"

A smirk crossed over the vixen's narrow muzzle. "Androse. There are still rumors flying around about his return, but no one really knows exactly what happened. We arranged an incursion at the black hole, but Fox is lost turning him back."

"About time the monkey was good for something," the general replied. "It's going to take some effort. I can bring in two squads that I trust. It will have to be a major operation, but I can put it together in four or five days. I suggest you're off world, just to be safe."

"You're not going to use my fighter. I'm not going to lose that."

"I'm sure it was damaged during the hard landing, naturally we would have to provide a ship for the duration of this mission."

"Thank you, sir."

"Think nothing of it, it is the least this world owes you for what you have done for us," he told the vixen with a small wave of his hand.

"I still owe you one, or ten." She stood up from her chair.

Pepper stood up as well, walking around the desk to stand next to the vixen. He reached out and placed a large hand on her shoulder. "Get me the repair costs as soon as you can. I'll have your new documents by this afternoon."

She twisted a little bit to get out from under her paw. "I'll get you the numbers, but I don't think even you can afford it."

"You might be surprised," he said, offering a hand to the vixen.

The vixen took his hand in hers, giving it a quick shake.

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Fox, and I hope I can continue to work with you Lisitza."

"I hope so too, sir," she said, then turned and left the general's office.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	4. Out of Sync

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

4: Out of Sync

Things weren't looking much better when she returned to the docking slip. Her fighter and Falco's had been pulled out of the hanger and placed on the pad, but Krystal's ship was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes were locked on her ship as she climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her, flicking her tail away at the last moment. Net even look at her escorts as they drove off, the vixen just walked across the pad towards her ship. The pad was hot in the afternoon sun, the heat rising up around her bringing with it the smell of oil and fuel.

As she approached the ship, Pepper came out, his frown hanging as low as his ears. "How bad is it?" she asked the hare.

He let out a sigh and offered out a data screen. "It will take two to three weeks to repair the ship. The stabilizer system is shot, there's damage to the power feeds to the gravity drive, half the system controls are fried and the space frame of the goose neck is going to need a full x-ray. There's no visible damage but it's twisted out of true."

Lisitza let out a sigh and started to scan the screen. There was even more on the display than she had been told, but most of it was lesser damage.

The vixen ran her hands over her hair and over her ears, her tail flicking in agitation. "Do we have a cost estimate?"

"Slippy is still working on the numbers, but it's going to be high."

"Once they are done, forward them to Pepper. He's going to help cover the cost. After that, everyone should take the rest of the day. We have a lot to do and we should try to relax after the morning we've had."

He nodded his head. "Lucy is already calling."

"Go see her."

The old man paused for a moment, looking up at the sky then back to the vixen. "Tonight, once we know what needs to be done."

She smiled and looked around the ship. "Where's Falco? I need to talk to him."

Peppy looked around a bit then shrugged his shoulders. "He was here before you returned, but I'm not sure where he went to."

"Find him and tell him to do a quick checkout on both of our fighters. We need them in working condition. I'm going to find a job for us, one way or another," she said, the last part muttered under her breath as she turned away and started into her damaged ship.

The trip to her quarters was a bit more harrowing than she had expected it to be. Much of the flooring along the goose neck had been pulled free and just as many access hatches were open. Some of the exposed wiring was scorched as were some of the breaker boards.

She had to walk carefully around the open flooring until she got to her room. Keying the door she stepped inside. The city skyline was visible through the floor to ceiling windows that made up the far wall. Everything had been thrown around by the landing; her awards and trophies littered the floor, and the bed had wrenched away from the wall.

Lisitza looked at the mess and shook her head. It was too much work for her to clean up just yet. Even so, letting everything sit bothered her more than it would have before.

Walking across the room she sat down at her computer terminal. Settling down on her chair, she brought up the display. She found it ironic that most of the internal systems were down but the link to the outside network was live.

She connected to the job listings, trying to see what could be done with just two fighters, and off of Corneria. It was strange going out and looking for work. Usually it came to them, attached to a fat paycheck. Most of the jobs she found didn't really work for them. Either they needed more support or were across the whole Lylat system.

After looking for half an hour she found a simple escort mission from Corneria to the asteroid belt then back again. It was a six day round trip with very little chance of trouble. There had always been the occasional raider attack in the belt. They were usually flushed out by the System Patrol, but they always came back.

Lisitza took a moment to compose herself, brushing her fingers through her hair, and flattening out a few fuzzing strands. She did bother with wearing any makeup, even though knew how to apply it thanks to the mental changes. She only dressed as female as she needed to, but her pants and shirt were still male, not that the pants really fit right.

Pushing up her sleeves, she tried to relax as she placed the call.

There were a few short moments as the system made the connection, and she was greeted by the image of a female mouse with red hair and light purple eyes. "This is Byron Scientific."

"I'm Lisitza McCloud, I'm calling about your escort job."

The mouse perked up a bit, a smile crossing over her small muzzle. "I'm glad to hear that someone is interesting in that. We've had that posting up all month. There are rumors of a new batch of raiders in the belt, and no one really wants to risk them. McCloud? any relation to Fox McCloud?"

Lisitza bit her lip and flicked her ears back slightly. "He's my husband," she said, the words catching just slightly in her throat.

A look of glee crossed over the other woman's face. "I'm surprised that the StarFox Team would be interesting in our little job. I'm not really sure we can afford you unless you're doing this for free."

She shook her head. "It's not going to be the full team. It will just be myself and Falco Lombardi. Naturally we will not be asking for our full rate."

"I see. What are your qualifications as a pilot?"

Lisitza bristled a little at this and flicked out her tail. "I'm fully rated for high performance and long term space flight, and I'm just as skilled as my husband. If I wasn't, I would not be flying with any member of the team."

"That is true," she said in as soft voice, and then nodded her head, her ears bouncing a bit. "I would prefer a more experienced pilot, but if you're flying with Falco, I think everything will be fine," she added.

The vixen smiled. "I'm just as capable of a pilot as Falco is, and I will be on point for this mission."

There were a few moments of silence as the two women looked at each other through the screen, a small smile sneaking over the mouse's lips. "I see. This is your first mission, isn't it? Very well, we're not expecting anything to happen. Our investors just want some reassurance that everything will be fine. Having even a part of the StarFox team will be more than enough to settle them down. We cannot go much over the quote in the job listing, but there is room to negotiate."

Lisitza looked at the price in the job offer and nodded her head. It wasn't much, and wouldn't cover more than about a tenth of the repairs, but they needed everything they could get. "Plus seventeen percent."

"Eight," the mouse replied with a smile. They sent the next ten minutes working over the price, finally settling on twelve percent above the asking price, plus the cost of food supplies and recycling chemicals.

Once it was settled, the vixen moved on to more important things. "When are you leaving?"

"Now that we have you, dawn tomorrow from a private docking slip. I'm sending you the address now."

"We'll be there bright and early Ms..." she trailed off, realizing with a little bit of embarrassment that she had never gotten the mouse's name.

"Cleo Bryon, and I'll be your contact for the duration of the mission."

"We'll see you there, Ms. Bryon," she replied, then signed off the connection.

Letting out a breath she slumped back into her seat, her face dropping into her hands. She had been talking to either the owner of the company or his wife. She should have asked her name right from the start instead of waiting till the end of the call. Still, embarrassment aside, it was a job.

Lisitza climbed out of her chair and walked over to her dresser. She dug out one of her old white vests and pulled it on. It didn't fit as well as she would have liked, a little too wide over her shoulders and too tight across the chest, but it would do.

After copying the job information onto a data screen, she placed it into a pocket on her vest and started out of the room. She paused at the door and looked back at the mirror on the wall, still covered by the black cloth bolted over it. She stood there for a moment, looking at where her reflection should be, before she turned away.

Stepping outside of her room she found Slippy pulling out one of the damaged breaker panels. She started to offer to help him but he gave her a glare before she got out much more than a single syllable. She looked back at him, then turned away, starting back towards the main body of the ship.

Peppy was at the top of the stairs hunched over an open floor panel and making notes on a data screen.

"How is it?" she asked.

The hare looked up, his ears hanging down over his eyes. "Still bad. I have an x-ray scanner on order and it will be here in a few days. We're going to have to replace most of the junction wiring harness. I'm going to have to hit a junk yard to find one. ROB is going to be out of commission for at least a week and is a low priority until the core systems are up. Yourself?"

"I found us a job, escort to the belt and back. It's not a lot, but it's a start."

"Good, we need it," he paused for a moment then added: "You're going to need a new flight suit."

Lisitza clenched her jaw and flicked her tail. That hadn't even occurred to her. She had lost her flight suit on Sauria, cutting it away piece by piece as she had been transformed. She couldn't risk a long flight without one.

Closing her eyes she did a mental accounting of how much they had let in the bank and frowned at the number. "I'll take care of that today," she said as they started down the stairs towards the hanger. There were a few open access hatches on the stairwell, but the space behind them looked damaged.

Once in the hanger she spotted Falco outside the ship. He was going around the fighters with a checklist in hand. They had been tied down and had been connected to the fuel pumps.

The wolf and the bear had also returned, waiting at the edge of the docking slip.

She skipped the falcon for the moment and went towards the Pepper's men. They spotted her right away and the wolf moved to meet her. "These are for you," he said, holding out a small paper wrapped bundle.

"Thank you," she said, taking the package.

She undid the paper as the wolf walked back to his vehicle. Inside was a new identification card, a security card for base access, a credit card with the same account as Fox, a new set of pilot's licenses and a medical certificate. All the things she needed to get along in the world and to fly over it.

"I guess I exist now," she said with a sigh, and tucked everything into her vest.

Lisitza stood still for a moment, her tail hanging to the ground as she tried to compose herself. Rolling her shoulders back, she straightened up and turned around, heading back to the fighters. "Falco!" she called out.

Her friend looked up at her from his position under the wing of his fighter. "Hello Lizzy, what's up?"

"How do the fighters look? Will they be ready to fly in the morning?" she asked in her best command voice, which didn't carry the authority that it used to have.

He looked at her with a little bit of surprise, his crest of feathers falling slightly. "We're supposed to have leave for the rest of the day."

The vixen shook her head. "We don't, we get to nursemaid a civilian ship for the better part of a week. It's not a lot, but it's enough to cover some of the repairs."

"I thought Pepper was going to cover the cost."

She laughed a bit and walked up to the falcon. "Then make us fly the next dozen missions for free. I'd rather pay for as much as we can."

Falco let out a soft groan and walked out from under the wing. "There are a few dings, but nothing that will cause any problems. We'll be ready to fly in the morning."

"Good," she said, turning to look over her own fighter.

"We're going to need to restock supplies."

Lisitza smiled a bit and looked at her friend. "That's being covered by the client. Just keep things cheap, go with the surplus stuff."

The falcon frowned slightly. "I was hoping to get away from those things. They're awful."

She laughed and smiled happily. "Do you know where Krystal went? I need to talk to her." She had no idea who else to turn to when it came to finding a new flight suit.

"She's two slips down. Careful, you might miss it," he said.

"Thanks," she replied, flicking her ears back as she looked up at _The Great Fox_. It was going to take a lot of small jobs to pay off all the repairs and the loan from Pepper. She wasn't going to be getting any big jobs, not for a long time.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	5. The Square Peg

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

5: The Square Peg

It was a long walk down to Krystal's docking slip, almost a full mile. The small ship was dwarfed by the wide open pad, almost vanishing on the open platform. Lisitza could see her twin working on top of the ship, her blue fur contrasting with the brown jumpsuit.

"Krystal," she called out as she walked towards the craft.

The other blue vixen lifted her head, a smile crossing over her face. "Lisitza! I was wondering when you would get here," she said in her accented voice as she climbed off the wing and dropped onto to the ground.

"I had other things that had to be done first. How is your ship? Any serious damage from the landing?"

The vixen rubbed her hands over her jumpsuit, leaving dirty streaks of grime over the fabric. They blended in with the dull clothing. "There is some damage, but nothing that I can't fix myself."

Lisitza smiled and walked closer to the small ship. It was hardly any larger than her own fighter, but with a bigger cockpit that had a sleeper area in the back. The whole design was meant for stability over performance. The sturdy craft had a well earned look of being lived in, but showed no visible signs of damage other than one of the landing gear having been turned out of true.

"You must be quite the engineer. Maybe you could give Slippy a hand. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

Krystal shrugged. "I offered to help him, but he wasn't interested. He doesn't like me."

Lisitza let out a sigh and nodded her head. "I don't think he cares for either of us right now. Talk to Peppy. He can give you something to do without getting in Slippy's way."

"After I finish my own repairs."

"I'm not trying to push you; we could just use the extra set of hands. The ship looks pretty bad, and work is a little thin. We do have a milk run starting tomorrow. It's not a lot, but it will help."

The older vixen looked at her sister with a bit of confusion, her tail flicking slightly. "This is more than a social visit, isn't it?"

Lisitza gave a small nod. "Yes, I do. I need a new flight suit if I'm going to spend any real time off planet. I could use some... advice," she said, her voice faltering slightly.

"You want me to go shopping with you?"

She nodded, her ears dropping down in embarrassment. "The only thing I have that fits is the clothing you gave me. I have no idea what I need or what to do." She cast her eyes to the ground as she spoke.

"I have an extra suit," Krystal offered, pulling at the edge of her jumpsuit.

The vixen shook her head. "I would love to take that, but it won't work for me. I need one that is made for high Gs. Yours aren't."

Looking down at her suit, Krystal gave it another tug, causing it to flutter around her body. "I suppose it's not. I still don't understand why you wish to have me along."

"I need some advice on a proper fit."

There were a few moments of silence, then she gave a slight nod. "Very well, let me get cleaned up. Wait here. This won't take long," she said, then ducked under her ship, climbed up the ladder and disappeared inside the cockpit. A moment later the canopy slid closed and the glass went dark.

Lisitza started to walk around the small ship as she waited for her twin. She tugged at her ill fitting clothing as she walked, wondering if she should find some new pants as well. Eventually she decided that it wasn't worth it. She would be in her flight suit for the whole trip and wouldn't need any normal clothing until she got back.

Trying to put it out of her mind she crossed her arms over her chest, a gesture which that much harder due to the fact that her breasts were in the way. She tried to adjust her arms, then, when that didn't work, the breasts themselves. Eventually she sighed and crossed her arms behind her back.

She hoped that someday her body would become natural to her, but she doubted that it would ever happen.

The vixen sat down near the broken landing gear, looking up at the damage to try and distract herself until her now sister returned. She had back tracked most of the cabling and welding when the other blue vixen finally returned. Krystal had pulled on a pair of jeans and a soft yellow shirt that was a little worn around the collar. She had washed the fur on her face and brushed out her hair, pinning it back with her tiara.

Lisitza shifted a bit as she looked over the vixen. There was a mix of feelings from her new and old self. Her orientation might have been changed, but she still found the woman attractive. It was odd. The feelings were still the same, but not in the way they had been before. Even more disturbing, she got the same feeling when she thought of certain men. That was a feeling her mind didn't like, but her body seemed to enjoy.

"Are you okay?" Krystal asked.

The younger vixen blinked and flicked her ears back against her hair. "I'm sorry, my mind was wandering," she admitted.

"Where to?"

The question was casual, but it still put her on edge. She ran her hands over her hair and shook out her tail. "It really doesn't matter. We should be going."

"All right. Where do you buy a flight suit?" Krystal asked as the two vixens made their way across the landing slip towards the fence and the perimeter road.

"There's a shop about five miles outside of the port. The ones they have at the pilot's store never last more than a year and always bind up," the other vixen replied, rolling her neck in memory of her first flight suit.

A taxi arrived only a few moments after they had left the docking slip and closed the gate. The driver stopped close and smiled at the two vixens in a way that sent a small chill though the transformed male. They climbed into the back and she gave him the address of the store.

Lisitza sank back into the seat, finding it stiff but good enough. She tried to relax, folding her hands in her lap as the taxi drove along the road, nearing the main entrance to the port. There was a slight shake in her hands, her fingers twitching against her fur. There was a weight in the pit of her stomach as the car turned towards the city. It was going to be her first trip in public as a woman, and it bothered her. A part of her wondered if people would look at her oddly, would be able to see exactly what she had been before.

Biting her lip, she let out a soft sigh. There wasn't anything about her that would make her seem like anything but a real woman. The same power that had changed her had made her move naturally in her body. The only time it seemed strange was when she moved against the ways her body wanted to move.

The taxi drove through the city and came to a stop in front of a plain looking building. The only sign that it was a store was the name _Flight Supplies_ in red letters on a white background.

She ran her new bank card over the reader, satisfied at the small beep as it successfully deducted the cost of the trip. As soon as the door was closed the taxi drove off.

"What a bland place," Krystal said.

"It has what I need," Lisitza replied and walked in through the single door. The shop inside was large with a high ceiling from which hung models of different high performance space craft, each one in exacting detail. The front of the store was lined with shelves that were filled with books and charts, as well as accessories like secondary flight computers. Behind them the store was filled with racks of clothing, from work wear to flight suits, and even everyday clothing that carried some sort of logo or another. Even further back were a number of display cases filled with both basic and advanced avionics equipment, more than enough to replace her full cockpit.

The older vixen let out a soft whistle as she looked around. "Wow."

"You can get almost everything here, even ships."

The overwhelmed vixen looked up at the modals hanging over their heads. "I need to come to the core worlds more often."

"So do I," Lisitza said with a smile, walking back through the store to the clothing section, pausing half way there to turn towards the woman's clothing. Once there she found the flight suits, surprised at the number of choices, at least three times as many as there were in the men's section.

"So, where do we start?" she asked Krystal.

"With the right size," the original vixen replied, walking down the length of the rack, looking at the small tabs that called out nearly nonsensical numbers. She finally stopped at one that seemed too low, and then looked at the younger vixen then back down at herself. "These should fit."

Lisitza ran her hand over the selection of flight suits, unsure of what she should get. In her past life she had preferred a simple green suit, but nothing she saw was as simple as she liked. After some exploration she found one that was close to what she had worn before and pulled it free.

"That is going to look ugly on you."

"Are you sure?" She held the suit against her body and looked down at herself. "I think it will be fine."

Krystal tisked and shook her head. "Trust me, it won't, and the green will look vile with your fur," she said, starting to look through everything herself. Finally she pulled out one that was dark grey and blue, which nearly matched her fur color. "This will look nice."

"Are you sure? It's blue, and it looks like a plug suit."

She gave Lisitza a knowing smile. "It's what I would get. Go, try it on, try on both of them on. You'll see," she said with a thin smile.

Letting out a sigh, she gathered up both suits over her arm. The vixen looked back over the selection then pulled out a red and white suit that looked somewhat nice. With the three suits in her arm she headed towards the changing rooms.

One of the clerks waved her into the woman's dressing room and keyed open the door for her. Stepping inside she closed and locked the door behind herself.

There was a mirror on the far wall, betraying her by showing her reflection. She turned away so as not to see herself and placed her suits on the hook on the wall.

She shrugged off her vest and pulled her shirt off over her head, throwing it to the floor. Wiggling her pants down off her hips, she kicked them off and dropped them in the corner with her top.

Lisitza started with the green suit, taking it off the hanger and holding it against her body. She undid the zipper and buttons, then struggled her way into the suit. Pulling it closed around her body she tugged the zipper all the way up under her chin. She buttoned the cover flap closed over the zipper then turned to look at herself in the mirror.

It didn't flatter her, but that was being kind. It was more like a disaster zone. It fit her form but was still baggy in a few places that made her look odd. The color really did clash with her fur and her breasts looked strange under the fabric. It was an awful outfit for her.

She stood there staring at her reflection, annoyed that Krystal had been exactly right about the outfit. Then she pulled the buttons open with a grunt and yanked the zipper down. Once the suit was off of her body, she put it back on the hanger and moved it to the side.

Looking between the two remaining suits she decided to try the red one next, hoping that it was better than her first choice.

The suit was easier to pull on, the zippers were better placed and there was a bit more give to the material while still having the right level of tightness. The final zipper wasn't as convenient, it ran down the center of her back. She had to fumble around for it with one arm over her shoulder and the other twisted around her back. Finally she snagged the pull and closed the suit.

Once again Lisitza turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. This time the suit wasn't all that bad looking. It fit her pretty well, not hanging or pinching in any way. There was built in support for her breasts, but it made them jut out under the tight fabric. On the other hand, the colors were placed a bit oddly. The red covered much of her body with the white on her limbs, but there was a thick white stripe running up from her crotch to her chest, stopping just above her breasts. The last thing she wanted was a racing stripe connecting those two parts of her body.

With a few moments of struggle she was able to pull the suit off. She carefully replaced it on the hanger, hoping that she could find another one with a better choice of colors.

She pulled down the suit that Krystal had picked out. She looked it over, noticing that the chest had a cutout to show off her cleavage. The vixen debated just taking it back, but decided to at least try it on before rejecting it. She had brought her twin along for advice; she should at least trust it.

The suit went on easily. There was a wide hole for her tail that cinched closed, a zipper came up from her navel to under her breasts and some buttons closed the collar around her neck. She adjusted the top to hold her breasts in place and tucked the straps of her bra out of view.

Smoothing out the suit, she turned around and stopped at her own reflection. She looked fantastic in the suit, pretty but not too sexy, even with the cleavage showing. The dark blue looked nice with her exposed fur and the light gray provided some nice contrast.

She spun around, watching her reflection in the mirror as the suit held close to her body, her tail fluffing out behind her. It pained her to admit it, but the suit made her look really good.

Lisitza lifted her arms over her head and twisted her body. The suit moved easily, flexing well and only binding when she twisted her arms behind her back or head. Bending down she touched her toes, a bit surprised at how it tightened over her ass. She snapped up at this, pulling at the back of the suit. It wasn't that much of a problem, she would be sitting in her fighter most of the time, but she would have to be careful about it.

Taking the suit off she folded it up and set it on the chair. When she pulled her own clothing back on she was surprised by how uncomfortable they felt after the flight suit.

Gathering up the three suits she stepped out of the changing room to find Krystal waiting a few feet away, some clothing under her arms.

"Find one you like?"

She blushed a bit. "Yes, the one you picked out. Are those for me as well?"

The other vixen gave a know smile. "I thought it was the best one. These are for me. I thought I should pick out a few things since I was here."

Lisitza nodded as she put the extra suits on the return rack. "I'll pay for mine, and then I'll meet you at the front of the store."

Her twin nodded and stepped into the now free dressing room. The other vixen started towards the front of the store with the flight suit held tightly in her hand. There was only one register and a small line waiting for the man behind the counter.

Stepping into line she looked down at her hands, hoping that it wouldn't take too long for her to pay and be gone. When the line moved she glanced up to make sure she wouldn't run into the person in front of her and saw a lion looking at her from the shelves. He was giving her a once over, his eyes flicking up to meet with hers, then quickly turned away, trying to hide his interest.

With a frustrated flick of her tail she moved closer to the register. She didn't look back at the admiring man, but she could still feel his eyes on her back.

Finally she got to the register and placed the new suit on the counter. The clerk didn't even look at her; he just rang it up and motioned for her to pay.

She bit her lip when she saw the price. It was higher than she had expected it to be, more than any suit she had bought before, but she could still afford it. There was a moment's thought about going back to find a cheaper suit, but she decided it wasn't worth it. Without a word she scanned her card over the reader and took her bag from the clerk.

Lisitza waited near the exit, watching as her twin passed through the line about ten minutes later. She had a few things draped over her arm, nothing as complicated as her flight suit, and probably not as expensive either.

Krystal moved quickly through the line, coming out with her own bag and a smile on her face. "I wish I had known about this place last year."

"It's nice," Lisitza agreed as they walked out of the store. A quick wave of her hand was enough to bring another taxi to a quick stop next to them. The two women climbed inside and she gave the driver the number of the docking slip. The exact address wasn't needed, it was a common trip.

The older vixen dug through her bag and pulled out a piece of purple fabric. "I found a new pair of work overalls. They are oil and stain resistant, and have a dozen more pockets," she said with a bit of glee.

"Nice--it's better than the brown one."

She nodded, putting it back into the bag. "This will fit better too. I also bought a few shirts made of the same fabric. It will be nice to have on planet."

Lisitza nodded and held her bag a bit closer to her chest, not at all interested in what her twin had bought. "You can spend too much time in space. When we met I hadn't been on the ground in two years."

There were a few moments of silence between the two of them, and then Krystal shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have much of a choice. There are things I have to know, things I have to do, and none of them are on Corneria."

Lisitza nodded again and looked over at her sister. There was a look of pain on her face, her shoulders slumping as a touch of darkness came into her blue eyes. She tried to hide it by turning away, but it was still easy to read in her tail and ears.

They both stayed silent for the rest of the ride back to the ship.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	6. Over and Under

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

6: Over and Under

Lisitza tugged at her new flight suit, trying to work up the courage to step outside of her room and into the sight of the rest of her crew. Her tail was flicked back and forth against her legs, betraying how nervous she was. She couldn't help thinking that the suit was a bit too sexy, but she couldn't just hide in her room. If she didn't fly they didn't get paid.

Taking a deep breath, she let go of her suit and rolled her shoulders. Standing up as tall as she could she keyed open the door and stepped into the partly disassembled hallway.

Falco was waiting on the other side of the door, his eyes going a little bit wide as he saw the vixen. They made a quick pass over her body as his beak closed with a snap. "You look... Wow, just wow," he said, shaking his head.

"Stuff it. Are we ready to fly?" she asked, pushing past the falcon and picking her way over the open floor panels. Slippy was standing in the open floor, working at the exposed space frame. He glanced up at her as she walked past, then let out a long groan.

"Both fighters are fuelled, supplied and ready to fly. We're a little light on weapons, so we can't go long in a fight. Otherwise things are fine, though the food is going to be nasty," Falco said as they walked down the stairs.

Walking out of the hanger bay they passed Peppy on his way back to the ship. "Captain, Falco," he said.

"Keep me posted on the repairs. I would like to have some progress by the time we get back," she told the hare.

"I will do so. I will be contacting Pepper today as well," he replied.

She smiled at her old friend. "On top of it as always. Did you have a nice visit?"

He nodded "That I did. Lucy says hello. She would like to visit when the ship is repaired."

Lisitza frowned a little bit at that. She didn't want Lucy to know about her changes, and she was smart enough to work out that something was going on. "I guess that will be fine, but not until we're space worthy again. We don't need her getting any ideas that she can fix everything herself."

Peppy laughed at this and hide a smile. "That's true. Get flying--I'll keep you posted on the repairs," he said and walked up the ramp and into the ship.

She turned and walked over to where the fighters were tied down. The morning air felt nice as it brushed over her fur and the tips of her ears. Once the moment was past, she walked up to her fighter. Falco had already pulled off all the tie downs and was walking around his ship.

Opening the canopy, she climbed inside and started on her checklist. It took a few moments to fall back into the familiar pattern, and she found it relaxing when she was there. The whole thing went quickly, partly because she skipped much of the list, and she didn't turn up any issues.

"Ready to fly?" the falcon asked as he climbed up into his craft.

She nodded and climbed into her own ship, settling down into the familiar seat. "Ready," she replied.

"We should repaint your ship to match your new colors," he said with a smirk.

Lisitza shook her head. "It's just a flight suit," she replied and closed her canopy. Once it was sealed, she pulled on her headset and began to start up her ship. A few moments after the electronics came on there was a beep as the system connected.

"The suit could use a belt," Flaco said over the team radio connection, both engines starting up.

She snorted a bit. "This isn't a fashion statement; it's meant to be practical." She looked down at her cleavage as she spoke, blushing a little in her ears.

"I see, a fashion statement."

Lisitza shook her head, setting the primary radio channel to ground control for the quick jump to the Byron Scientific landing slip. Once they were cleared the two fighters took off, staying in formation. The trip only took about twenty minutes, flying them around the city to a smaller docking port about ten miles outside the city limits.

They landed next to an older model short range fright huller. It was beaten up, but nothing that would keep it from making a safe the trip to the belt and back. Someone had taken a lot of care with the ship, and upgraded the engines a few years back. They had also painted the company logo on the side, but small enough not to be very noticeable.

As soon as both fighters had touched down, a familiar looking mouse stepped out of the ship, her red hair blowing back from the air displaced by the landing.

Once the ship was clear and the engines had been shut down Lisitza opened her canopy. She pulled herself out of the ship and climbed down the retractable stairs to stand in front of her employer.

"Ms. Byron," she said to the mouse.

"Cleo, please. I'm glad you could make it," she said. The casually dressed woman was a bit shorter than Lisitza had expected, and had a flight computer resting on her hip. She offered out her hand in a casual gesture.

The vixen took the hand and gave it a firm shake. "Ready to fly?"

"In about fifteen minutes. We just opened our flight plan, though there was a minor redirection. Apparently the military has something going on around the black hole, so they have widened the restricted zone. It will only add a couple hours to the trip."

"Good to know. Send us both a copy of the final plan so we can keep together. The transmitter number was in the contract I sent you," she said.

The mouse nodded and picked up her flight computer, punching a few buttons. "I saw that. I'm sending you the flight plan now, plus the group transponder code."

A small smile crept over Lisitza's muzzle. The group code would allow them to be directed as a single unit, a plus as they would be flying in formation for the whole trip. It was something she had planned to recommend getting, having assumed Cleo wouldn't have thought of it herself

"You must be the pilot then?" she asked, pointing at the cargo ship.

"And the main engineer. We're a small company. There is only so much we can pay, so whoever can get the job gets assigned the job."

"You must own the company as well."

The mouse shook her head, her red hair flying around a bit. "No, my ex-husband does. He's the brains of the outfit; I take care of pretty much everything else. If we want to keep to the flight plan we should be getting into the air in about half an hour. I'll be on the bridge. I'll talk to you on the ship to ship." She brushed the loose hair back as she spoke.

"Very well," Lisitza replied as the two women separated. She climbed back into her fighter and strapped herself back in, making sure everything was tight. Once in place, she connected the flight suit to the life support system, then closed the canopy and double checked the seal.

She brought up the flight plan and looked it over with a critical eye. It was well planned out, following the standard space ways for the majority of the flight. It wasn't as good as she would have done; she would have been more willing to take a short cut or two, but for being a civilian pilot the mouse was good at her job.

There was a bit of conversation between the three ships before they received clearance to depart. After that, everything was business as they headed to the sky, leaving Cornaria behind for the moment, but not Lisitza's worries.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	7. Bad News Always Comes in Fours

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

7: Bad News Always Comes in Fours

Lisitza stirred in her seat, sitting up as a small buzzer filled the cockpit. She rubbed her eyes, looking at the soft green glow of the heads-up display. The outlines of the space way showed the upcoming intersection with the nav beacon and the turn onto the next space way.

Leaning forward she reached for the cockpit lights and then dialed the lights down until they were nearly black. She sat in silence for a few moments, looking out at the distant stars. A large asteroid drifted past in the distance, at least two hundred kilometers away, the only sign of its passing the stars it blotted from the sky.

She folded her hands in her lap and just enjoyed the quiet darkness for the few moments that it would last. The black called to her, like it had always called to her. It was so strong that she had lied about her age when she joined the academy. Out in the black things were better, were normal, and she could see everything that she wanted in her life.

It was something she could never give up. No matter what happened to her, no matter what face she wore. She would always belong to the black.

With a sigh she turned away from the stars and turned up the cockpit lights, washing out much of what was on the other side of the glass. She then keyed on the ship-to-ship connection. "I'm up and active. We're coming up to the beacon. Is everyone ready for the course change?"

"We're still on the auto pilot," Cleo replied. A few moments later Falco added: "I'm good to go."

The vixen double-checked her autopilot. The system had already locked onto the next beacon and was ready to change course as soon as the two vectors crossed. She was more than happy to follow the exact course; the coming asteroids were close together, even on the scale of space.

She placed her hands on the controls, but with a relaxed grip. She didn't expect anything to happen, but twice in her life the autopilot had failed. She felt it was better to be safe.

A few moments later there came the familiar hiss as the ship started to turn and gain in altitude, moving past another distant asteroid. On the display screen she could see the other two ships make the exact same turn.

Falco spoke up over the radio. "We have two hours before the next leg; I'm going to catch a nap."

"You're clear for that. Set the alarm and call back when you're awake," she replied. They had been taking shifts getting a few hours sleep. Unlike Cleo they didn't have the luxury of a second pilot.

"Thanks, Lisitza," he replied before his mic clicked off. At least he was being respectful in front of the clients.

The vixen sank back in her seat, looking out at the washed out space around her. They would both be able to get a full night of sleep once they reached the research station. It was about seven hours away, and she was looking forward to it. Sleeping in her fighter always made her cramp up, though that hadn't been true on the current trip. She expected that it had something to do with her new, smaller, body.

She kept one ear to the radio and the other on her ship, crossing her arms under her breast. The only problem with space was that it was boring, even in the asteroid belt. It was a lot of nothing and the auto-pilot took care of most of the work, leaving her only to handle emergencies or any major failures.

Finally out of frustration she dialed up a small cup of coffee, the glass filling half full. She picked it up carefully so it wouldn't slop over in the low gravity, and then snapped the lid closed. Her first sip bought a frown to her lips; she still found it distasteful. Once again she made a mental note to bring along some of Peppy's tea for the next mission.

Lisitza took a large gulp of coffee, watching as another asteroid drifted past the trio of ships. The drink was too hot as it went down her throat and warmed her stomach. Even if the flavor was bad, the warmth was welcome.

A moment later her head snapped up as she looked at the passing asteroid. Flicking her ears back she leaned forward in her seat until the restraints pulled at her shoulders, trying to judge just how close it was.

With a grunt she fell back into her seat and pulled up the flight plan, triple checking it. They weren't supposed to be getting near any asteroids for another hour.

The vixen set her coffee down, locking it into the cup holder. Glancing out the window she saw another asteroid in the distance. It was nothing like what was on the charts.

Turning on her landing radar she pinged the rock, getting some back some basic information about it. Once that was done, she ran it through her nav computer. There was a moment's pause before it came back with a match. Z-1879-8C. With one last check of the flight plan she confirmed that they were well off their planned course.

A cold chill went down her back, the fur standing up on her tail. Either the beacon had moved, or they were following a fake. The first was imposable and the second meant that they were flying into a trap.

She turned on the high priority narrow band channel and locked it onto Falco's ship. "Falco, wake up," she said in a tone that was far calmer then she felt.

There was a moment of silence, so she made the call again. By the time she was about to make the third call her friend came on line. "What is it?" he asked in a groggy voice.

"We just passed an asteroid off the starboard side. I want you to do a reading on it see if you get the same result as I have."

"You woke me up to look at a rock?" he snapped.

"No, I woke you up to look at a rock that is a few thousand kilometers out of place," she replied.

Silence fell over the channel for a few seconds. "I'll look into it," he finally said, the sleep gone from his voice.

She nodded to herself and started to move through her systems, warming up her guns and double checking that both Falco's fighter and the freighter were marked as friendly. By the time she was priming her missiles, her friend came back on the radio.

"My ship says that it's Z-1879-8C and we should be nowhere near it," he said.

Lisitza typed at her computer, trying to filter out the fake beacon to try and find the real thing. The power of the fake was significantly stronger than the real thing and managed to block it out.

"I'm bringing up the weapons system," he added a moment later.

"I'm already hot. Double check your FoF to be sure everything is set correctly. Keep everything passive for the time being, we don't want to warn them that we know what's going on. I want to turn around and head towards the last beacon in five minutes. I'll talk to the ship, and tell them what's happening," she replied.

"Roger," he replied, most of it cut off as she switched the narrow band to the freighter. "Cleo, do you read me?"

There was a moment's pause then the mouse's voice came over the line. "What's wrong?"

"The nav beacon is a fake. You need to be ready to run if things go bad. Warm up any defenses that you may have."

This time the pause was much longer. When she came back on the connection her voice was a bit shaky. "What are we looking at?"

"I don't know yet, but it's best to assume the worst. Don't light up the sky just yet, act normally for now."

"Okay. I'll make sure everything is locked down over here.'

Lisitza smiled, not that anyone could see it. "Relax, this is why you hired us," she said with more confidence than she really felt.

"That doesn't make it any easier, but understood."

She flicked through a few things on her secondary display, quickly generating an encryption code. "I'm sending you a code on a sub channel. If things get hot I want you to switch to it. We'll start backtracking to the last nav beacon in three minutes. That will tip off whoever might be watching that we know what is going on. Odds are they will show themselves then."

"Understood," she repeated.

She settled back into her seat, programming the return course into her flight computer as she switched the narrow band back to Falco. "Ready?"

"I'm hot," he replied.

"Good, I'm sending you a code."

Lisitza dropped the narrow band and returned to the ship to ship. "Okay guys, let's start backtracking," she said. With a quick flick of her finger she disconnected the autopilot then started to bank the ship. On her display she could see the other two ships do the same.

A moment later four blips appeared on the edge of her passive radar, accelerating towards them far too fast to be manned.

"Missiles!" Falco called out.

"Encryption," she snapped, turning the encryption on and locking her mic open. Her hands danced over her controls, turning on the active radar and reconfiguring the ship into full attack mode. She held tightly onto the controls, a small smile crossing over her muzzle.

"I'm moving to intercept," Falco said.

"Cleo, head back on full burn. We'll cover you," the vixen said, gunning her ship forward at full thrust as four more missiles came onto her screen, coming from the same location as the first volley.

With a flick of her thumb she switched to the interceptors. She was about to bring up the advanced targeting systems when she heard the familiar tone of her computer locking onto the missiles.

She had to suppress a chuckle. Anything that could be locked onto so easily was decades out of date. Apparently the raiders weren't expecting anyone with a decent system to come after them.

Lisitza pulled the trigger, sending four bolts of plasma flying from under her wings and out into space. The missiles tried to evade but they were too slow and too old. There was a series of pleasant looking, if distant, explosions as they were shot down.

"I'm engaging," her partner said, blowing past where the missiles had died, heading towards two ships that had just appeared on the radar system. The computer had them coded as refurbished battleships from the first Andros invasion.

"Following," she replied, expanding her radar to the max to make sure they were the only ships in range. There was nothing else that she could see, but the asteroids created a few voids where something could be hiding.

"Falco, Cleo, do you have anything else on your radar?" she asked, turning her ship towards the second raider. Her computer started throwing some tones as they tried to target her.

Cleo responded quickly enough that the first syllable was cut off. "We're clear."

"Only two," Falco replied, bearing down on his target.

"Cleo, run at full speed and make a distress call as soon as you are clear of any jamming. If anything shows up tell me and we'll head back to you," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," the mouse replied.

A moment later a new tone sounded as the raider ship started shooting at her. She clicked it off and rolled her ship, allowing the plasma bolts to rush past her, though a bit closer than she would have liked.

The radar said she was only ten klicks away and closing in fast. She switched her weapons back to the full plasma shot, but didn't return fire. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Falco was pounding on the other ship.

Another salvo of plasma fire rushed towards her, the closing distance leaving very little time to react. She spun her fighter in a tight roll, causing the bolts to bounce off the gravitational wake. Righting her ship she returned fire, pounding the plasma against the hull and disabling one of the battleship's plasma cannons.

The ship was now five kilometers away and filling much of her view. She slowed slightly, adjusting her targeting system to lock onto the engines. The moment the system had a firm lock she let loose one of the three missiles she had on board.

It streaked away from her ship at high speed, the distance to the target so small that there wasn't any time to try and intercept before it impacted the raider's ship. The glow of the engine faltered a bit then flashed out with an explosion of gasses and sections of the engine bell.

Pulling up she skimmed close to the surface of the ship, her proximity alert blaring in her ears. She strafed her guns along the hull, rushing across the width of the ship and racing away. The proximity alert was replaced by the tone of a missile lock.

The new missile appeared on the targeting computer, closing fast.

Lisitza slammed her throttle to full, the force of the acceleration shoving her back into her seat from the high Gs. Her flight suit grew tight around her body to compensate.

It wasn't enough to out run the missile, but it increased the time until intercept to twelve seconds. Not enough time, not yet. She launched chaff behind her, followed by flares. The tone faded for a moment as the radar lock broke up. It would only take a few moments to reacquire the lock, but it was enough to allow her to enter into a tight bank, throwing ever more Gs against her body.

The missile regained the lock right on time, but took a few moments to turn to her new course. It gave her a comfortable twenty second lead. Cutting her thrust to zero she spun her ship around the vertical axis without changing her acceleration, throwing her sideways against the restraints. She stopped once she was turned around, still sailing backwards as the missiles closed the gap, now ten seconds away. She went to full reverse trust, adding a bit more speed, but only worth a few seconds

Without a full lock she fired her interceptors, and then followed it up with a full volley of plasma fire. The missile kept on closing, close enough that she could see it through the plasma.

Her computer screamed at her with half a dozen alarms as the missile started to fill her vision. Then, with only three seconds to spare, her shots hit home. The missile exploded bright enough to cause her canopy to darken for a few moments as debris pelted over her hull. She pushed the throttle forward, rushing through the expanding cloud of debris and back towards the enemy ship.

"Fox, are you okay?" Falco asked.

"I'm fine, chipped the paint." The glass was starting to clear around her, a few new chips decorating the canopy. She could see the raider ship in the distance. They had managed to restart the engines, and were limping away at a small percentage of their full power.

She targeted the missile battery, locking on quickly and firing the moment the lock was solid. She pulled away as the missile did its job, trying to keep a few kilometers between them. The last thing she needed was another missile running up her tail.

They shot at her with their remaining plasma cannon, but didn't get close.

Lisitza turned her ship in a wide arc, coming back around and strafing along the hull towards the remaining gun, taking it out quickly. A section of the hull around the gun broke free, air rushing out into space. Luckily it didn't seem like anyone came with it.

She was turning her ship around for a third pass, locking onto the final missile battery when the unencrypted ship-to-ship came to life. "We are standing down and offering surrender. I repeat, we are offering surrender."

Pulling her ship up, she killed the lock on for the moment. "Shut down all remaining weapon systems, the false beacon and any jamming systems you might have. Then kill your engines."

A few moments later the system reported their targeting radar had gone down. A minute after that the engines shut down.

The vixen slowed her ship and started to circle around the disabled craft. The other raider ship was in worse shape, holes running through most of the rear hull, but most of their weapon systems were still intact.

"Cleo, is everything safe?" she asked, pulling her hands free of the controls and rubbing her fingers.

"We're just a little shaken. The emergency frequencies are clear and I've already sent the distress call."

She smiled to herself and looked down at the raider ships. "Tell them to hurry up. I don't know how long they will be content to stay quiet."

"I will, and thank you. You are as good as a pilot as you claimed to be."

Lisitza was glad that no one could see her smile.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	8. That Which you Do

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

8: That Which you Do

Lisitza slowly walked around her ship, her checklist held firmly in her hand. She was going over it, line by line, making sure that her ship was still in one piece. There was some damage from the battle, mainly pitting and scorch marks over the front of the ship. The major damage was a long gash along the fuselage over the left wing.

She climbed up onto the wing and moved to look at the damage, crouching down to look into the gash. The shrapnel had torn through the metal, folding the edges back and exposing the wiring. Scorch marks covered everything, but nothing inside the hull was damaged. With some repairs the structure would still hold.

A low whistle came from behind her which brought her up short. She sat in place for a few moments, her tail flicking, before she realized that her position, resting on her knees and bending at the hips, showed off her ass. Sitting upright she let out a slow breath. "Please be Falco," she whispered as she turned around.

A raccoon was standing at the door, holding a clipboard in one hand and grin on his face. The smile faded slightly as she glared at him, her ears laid back as her lip pulled up. Without a word he hurried across the small docking bay to the parked cargo haler.

She stood there for a moment, her anger falling away as quickly as it had come. A flush crossed over her face as she found the appreciation had brought a warm feeling deep inside of her, and that it made her feel good.

Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath and forced the feeling away. Once she was calm, she turned back to the damage, this time making sure she wasn't putting herself on display. The extra examination didn't show her anything new, but she decided that she would have to replace the wiring harness some time in the next few months.

Lisitza stood up from her inspection and walked back across the wing to the open canopy. Reaching inside she pulled out her tool kit and then returned to the hull damage.

"I haven't seen that swagger in a long time," Falco said as he climbed up onto the wing with her.

"I don't need anyone else staring at my ass," she replied, tucking her tail close as she crouched next to the damaged hull section.

He laughed and sat down next to her. "Yes ma'am. How bad is the damage, blue britches?"

"Pretty minor. It needs a bit of work, but nothing I can't handle," she said as she opened her kit. Carefully she arranged everything in place and then took out a pair of work gloves. She tugged them on to her hands before picking up the sealing gel. There was enough to do the job, but not much more.

Falco clicked his beak. "Your backside is truly whistle worthy," he mused.

The vixen grunted in annoyance as she worked both hands into the gash, finding it almost too tight. It would have been too tight if she'd been her old self. "I don't care, just don't look," she said as she started to work the gel over the scorched wires, repairing any damage to the insulation.

"I don't, but it still feels odd," her friend said.

She smiled a bit, working the gel through the bundle of wires, making sure to get every one of them. "It still feels odd to me, too."

There was a moment of silence as she pulled her hands free and pulled the gloves off, setting them to the side to let them dry. From inside the toolkit she pulled out a self-sealing patch and removed the backing.

"I guess it would be strange for you to be looked at like that by men," Falco said.

The vixen started to say something but found it caught in her throat. Instead she pressed the patch over the gash in the hull and ran her fingers along the edges.

Sitting back she looked up at her friend. "It makes me feel strange. I want to be embarrassed, but it feels nice at the same time," she admitted in a soft voice.

With a slow movement, he placed one hand on the center of her back. The touch was light so it could be taken away with just a word. When that word failed to come he rested it fully on her back. "So, you're attracted to men?" he asked.

Lisitza slowly nodded her head. "I am, but I wish I wasn't. My sexuality has been completely screwed up. I'm attracted to men, but I'm still attracted to women, but not like before. Men come first, by a very wide margin. Everything is thrown off, and I feel so odd. I tried to be the way I was, but it feels empty and false."

He chuckled a bit. "That's too bad. You were quite the ladies' man."

The vixen rolled her eyes. "Compared to you. I had twice as many girls as you did back at the academy," she said. A small smile crossed over her face as the memories ran through her mind.

Falco just shook his head. "Hey, I made up for that with the guys. If you ever want any advice..." He trailed off for a moment, a look of worry on his face. Quickly he changed the topic. "Though anyone who looked at us wouldn't believe we ever went to school together."

She looked back at him, not taking the bait. "You were always attracted to me when I was a guy; is that still true?"

He blushed a bit, his crest of feathers fanning out slightly. "Any man who says he isn't is a liar," he said. After a moment pause he added: "Well, maybe not Slippy."

"Slippy has his own problems."

"He'll get over it. I'm not lying. You are a very attractive woman, and yes, I'm attracted to you. But it does feel strange."

The vixen laughed softly. "Just because I'm attracted to men doesn't mean I'll be sleeping with anyone any time soon," she said, looking up at her friend. She hoped he would understand that it extended to him as well. There had been a time when the falcon had tried to bed her, but as a man, she'd never had an interest in that. It had taken a good deal of time to convince the bisexual bird of that.

"I understand," he said, pulling his hand away from her back.

They paused for a few moments then she stood up and closed up her kit. "How is your ship? You got into it worse than I did."

"The old girl has taken much worse in the past. You're the one that took the missile in the face, I just had to deal with plasma."

She chuckled and picked up her kit, carrying it back the cockpit.

"Have you recycled your system?" Falco asked, following her back along the wing.

"Everything checks out inside, though I need a little bit extra. The half day layover with the military took out the margin on my supplies."

"You used to carry a week extra with you. I'll get you some of mine," he said, jumping off the wing and walking over to his fighter.

Bending over the edge of the cockpit she stowed her tools and double checked that they were strapped in correctly. The last thing she needed was for the kit to go flying around if she pulled another high G turn.

When she stood up Falco was waiting for her with an armful of ration packages. "They're a bit old, but still okay if you have enough coffee," he said.

"Thank you," she replied, taking them and tucking them away.

The falcon smiled a bit and pulled away. "Next time I'll work the numbers myself when we stock up," he paused and looked back at the patch on the ship. "Did you smooth out the edge of the damaged hull?"

Lisitza stopped for a moment and then let out a long sigh. "No, I didn't," she said. The sharp edges of the impact were close to the wiring. The risk was low but it was possible the sharp edges could cut something, probably at the worst possible time.

Without a word she reached in her fighter, pulled out her toolkit, and turned back to the damaged hull.

"You'll need an extra hand. The patch will still be soft, but it will be easier if I helped."

"I guess with all the work you've done on your fighter you would know best. Guess we're not going to get much sleep after all," she said as they walked back along the wing.

He was about to say something when Cleo ran into the hanger, her red hair billowing out behind her. "Lisitza!" There was panic in her voice.

The blue vixen set her kit down and turned around to look at her employer. "What is it?" she asked, starting to get a sinking feeling that he already knew the answer.

"Do you have a hypercom system?"

She shook her head. "My ship doesn't get any of the civilian broadcast channels."

"Then you had better come with me." As she spoke she turned around and ran back out of the door.

Lisitza jumped from her fighter and hurried after the mouse. The hallway behind the door was tight and filled with equipment, giving her rushed footfalls a metallic sound. Halfway down the hall they turned and went into a small room. It already held a dozen people, including the raccoon that had whistled at her. They were all looking at the video screen on the far wall, looks of worry on all of their faces.

Cleo grabbed one and pulled them back. "Let Lisitza see," she ordered. The rat under her hand looked up then moved out of the way.

She didn't bother to move. On the screen she could see the distant images of a fighter fight, the frame of the image was marked with the telltale telemetry of an observation satellite. "What's going on?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"There's something happening at the black hole; the news said that it's Andros."

Lisitza bit her lip and tried not to say anything. Instead she tried to find a place to sit but there wasn't any room. Finally she just placed her hand on the back of a chair, holding tightly to it. Distant flashes of light appeared on the screen, as did the soft red glow of the black hole starting to open.

"He's coming through the black hole," Falco said from the back of the room.

A breathless voice of a news reporter came over the speakers, trying to describe the scene, but the vixen blocked it out. Her head was spinning as she focused on the images. She could see everything in her mind's eye. The first ships had already come through the black hole. Pepper's ships were already scrambling to take them out.

"It's McCloud," someone said as a circle appeared around one of the distant ships. The caption on the screen said the same thing.

Lisitza felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Cleo standing next her. She reached up and placed her hand over the mouse's.

The image on the screen switched to another camera, this one closer to the battle and focused on a bland looking ship with a military tail number. The screen again said that it was Fox McCloud's ship.

"That's not his normal fighter," someone near the front of the room said.

Lisitza nodded her head. "No, I have it," she said in a whisper.

The camera moved across the battlefield, more bursts of plasma filling the screen. The black hole was pulsing a dark red, yellows and blues starting to form in the center and radiate out to the growing edge.

"Is it really Andros?" the raccoon asked. Someone else replied: "It has to be, they wouldn't have Fox there if it wasn't."

The vixen nodded her head. "It's Andros," she said. "It has to be," she added a moment later. Her mind was starting to clear, watching as the complex show unfolded on the screen. She grabbed tightly at the chair in front of her, pulling at it and bringing a soft yelp from its occupant.

There were more flashes of light on the screen, the camera moving around trying to find something to focus on. She saw an enemy fighter break up in flames before the image changed back to the black hole.

Blue light was running from the center out to the edges, swirling against the red and yellow. There was a bright flair of light, washing out the camera image as the black hole ripped open. The camera recovered from the burst of light, the image coming back into focus, now dominated by a ship, backlit by the swirling light of the wormhole.

"That's a big ship," Falco said.

She nodded her head, watching as it moved over the screen. It was a relic from the last invasion. The ship was damaged, scorch marks covering one side, bracketed by gaping holes.

"He must be desperate if they are using that piece of junk."

The rat next to her laugh. "It's going to fall apart on its own."

Lisitza shook her head. "Don't underestimate him. Last time we did that he took over most of the system."

The fighters moved to attack the battle ship, plasma and missiles arching across the sky. Fox's ship led the battle, pulling close to the ship as they rained fire down upon it.

The enemy fighters engaged the squadron, taking out two of them, sending them spinning off into space. The rest of the wing broke away but Fox continued the attack.

"Come on, take it out," the vixen whispered, being pulled into the battle even though she already knew the outcome. Fox strafed over the top of the ship and rejoined the other fighters.

A volley of fire arched from the damaged ship, fire starting to burn under the broken hull. The squadron scattered around the plasma fire then pulled back together as each fighter sent a volley of missiles down onto the battleship.

The impact sent an explosion running through the broken hull, fire erupting into space only to flicker out in the vacuum. The large vessel started to turn, retreating back towards the open wormhole.

The other fighters pulled back but the false Fox McCloud followed the damaged ship, twin blaster bolts raining down on the broken ship. The gravity of the open black hole pulled both craft to the side.

"The angle is all wrong," she hissed, not having to fake the worry in her voice. She was leaning in close, her hands tight around the chair.

"What?"

She didn't have to explain anything, the image on the screen did it all for her. The two ships dove closer to the wormhole, gaining speed and starting to twist faster. The battleship fell deeper into the hole then hit the edge of the event horizon. The structure started to buckle and twist, the metal compressing together. A moment later the ship was torn to pieces, the debris swirling around and compressing in the displaced gravity of the black hole.

"Pull up! Damn it, pull up!" Falco yelled, his voice echoing around the small room.

The camera focused onto the ship as it tried to pull away. The ship skimmed close to the event horizon, the wings pulling back as the engines grew so bright they washed out part of the screen. For a moment it looked like he was going to make it, but at the very last moment the gravity pulled the ship back down and into the wormhole.

With a flash the ship vanished into the black hole. Nothing marked its passing, not even an explosion.

Lisitza stared at the screen. As the camera pulled back, the edges of the wormhole started to collapse. The fighters circled around the black hole, picking off any enemy ships that were left behind.

For a moment there was silence in the room, the only sound the report prattling on as the worm hole closed. Finally someone let out a cheer.

"Lisitza? Are you okay?" Falco asked as everyone else in the room started to cheer as the voice from the screen confirmed the defeat of the unexpected attack.

"I... I..." she said, struggling to make any sound come out. She wasn't acting, not anymore; it all came from a place inside of her that she hadn't even known existed.

Cleo moved around the vixen, pulling here away from the chair. "He's going to be okay, right?"

She looked at the mouse then back to Falco, gulping and trying to get her dry tongue to move. The falcon shook his head, a deep frown pulling at his flexible beak. "That was the wrong approach. You can't enter at that angle."

"What happened?" Cleo asked, looking between the two pilots.

Lisitza gulped, finding the weight of the words to much to bear. "You don't survive. He should have just ducked back into the wormhole; gone through, instead of trying to pull out. He almost had it, but it wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough..." she let her voice trail off. By now silence had fallen over the room, everyone looking at her.

"Are you sure?" the raccoon asked.

She nodded her head. "I'm sure, I'm very sure. God damn it, that fighter didn't have enough power," she growled, the words real enough. Her emotions were starting to run over and spin out of control. Without a word she hurried out of the room.

Cleo watched her go then looked back at Falco. "What is she saying?"

The falcon looked at the door then back at the red-headed mouse. "His normal fighter could have done it."

"But... Lisitza has it."

He slowly nodded his head, then turned and followed the vixen out of the small room.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	9. To the Last

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

9: To the Last

Falco walked along the small hanger bay, not surprised to find Lisitza sitting on the first step up to her cockpit. She had her elbows resting on top of her knees with her head in her hands. Her ears were laying flat against her hair while her tail hung low behind the step.

He stopped in front of her, expecting her to look up at him. When she didn't he cleared his throat, but there was still no response. Finally he just spoke up, "Are you okay?"

The blue vixen lifted her head slightly, looking up at him through her lids. Her eyes were red but the fur was dry. "What do you think?" she said in a soft voice.

Casting his eyes around to make sure they were alone he crouched down at her side. "That wasn't just acting, was it?"

She let out a sigh, her eyes flicking down to look at the back of her hands. "No," she said, hardly above a whisper.

Falco nodded and reached out to touch her, placing a hand on the small of her back. "What happened?"

"Fox is dead," she said, her voice cracking as she spoke.

After another quick glance around the room he leaned down to speak in her ear. "You're not dead."

Her head snapped up, ears twisting around as a small growl developed in the back of her throat. "I'm. Not. Fox."

"Yes, you are. You're you, regardless of what name you have or what body you wear. You are still the same person, either Fox or Lisitza."

"He's dead. Everyone knows it, everyone has seen it. He's dead to everyone and everything," she said, covering her face with her hands, muffling her last few words.

"But you're still here," he replied, sitting down next to her.

The vixen took in a deep breath and started to say something, but the words were lost in her throat. Finally she just let out a hard sob and curled up as much as she could while still sitting on the small step.

He kept his hand on her back, leaning in closer. "Lisitza, I'm here for you."

Slowly she lifted her head and looked back at the falcon, her eyes puffy but still no tears. "This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have prevented any of this. You couldn't have stopped any of this."

"What a brilliant statement. I wish it was true," she said, standing up with a lurch and turning away from him. She started to walk around her fighter, her tail hanging low against the back of her legs.

Falco decided not to follow her; he didn't know what else he could say to her or how to say anything worthwhile in the first place. He wanted to help his old friend, help bring her back to the person she once was, if not in body then in spirit. There had been a few moments when the old Fox had returned, but sadly that had come to a quick end.

He could just try to be there for her, be the same friend he always was while she tried to find her feet, find out who she now was. It wouldn't be the same as it had been, just like she wouldn't be the same. She needed to find a place where she could be happy, where she could be safe. Maybe that place wasn't behind the throttle, but he doubted it. Whatever her gender, she was still a fantastic pilot.

Lisitza finished the walk around her ship, her teeth clenched and a touch of anger hanging around her ears. "I need to you do a favor for me," she said.

"Anything," he replied.

She looked back over her shoulder, they were still alone, but from the sound of it someone would be there soon.

"Hit me."

"What?"

The vixen glared up at him, her green eyes red and puffy. "I can't cry. They will expect me to have a few tears, and I can't cry. Hit me."

"But--" he protested.

"That's an order!" she snapped, her voice dropping low as footsteps starting to echo from the open door.

He nodded his head then wrapped one arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. For a moment he considered going soft on her, but felt that he would need to go the whole way. With a grunt he plowed his fist into her chest, causing her to gasp at the air, collapsing into his arms.

Lisitza started to gasp softly, tears forming at the corner of her eyes and rolling down into her fur. "You didn't have to be that hard."

"Wanted to be sure," he said with a chuckle, and then made his face serious as Cleo walked into the room. "Heat's on."

The vixen stood up tall, rolling her shoulders back a bit as she turned around to look at the other woman. She wiped the tears away and visibly composed herself.

"Prep your ship; we're going to get out of here as soon as we're able."

"Why the rush?" Lisitza asked.

"The side trip with the military has cut into our schedule, if we want to get back home on time we're going to have to leave in thirty minutes," the mouse explained with a soft look. Trying to make it all sound very simple and normal, and not about helping the vixen.

Falco spoke up. "I'll see if I can pull some strings, maybe we can get clearance through a restricted area or two."

She nodded as her crew starting to file into the hanger behind her. They started to prep the cargo ship for launch, a few of them giving the vixen a look or two. Mostly they were looks of pity.

From the glare that crossed over her lips it was clear that Lisitza noticed them. She squashed it down and ran a hand over her hair. "Get on that."

He nodded and turned back to his fighter. It would only take a few words and they would be able to take a much more direct shot back to Corneria.

Falco climbed into his fighter and made the call, starting his preflight checklist at the same time.

"Screw the prep, let's get going as soon as we can," Lisitza called as she sat down in her own fighter. She pulled the canopy closed as her engines started to spin up to standby.

He looked at her through the glass of the cockpit, watching her slump slightly against her restraints. Real tears were starting to wash over her blue fur; locked behind the glass, far out of reach of anyone who could help her or touch her.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	10. The Big Lie

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

10: The Big Lie

The lights of Corneria City had never looked so uninviting before. They glittered under the clouds, giving them a soft glow as they swirled around the tall buildings and warning lights. The space port stood out as a mix of darkness outlined by light, the beacons guiding the two fighters in for a landing.

Lisitza starred out at them, hardly seeing them all as she swung her ship around, her altitude dropping a little too fast. She tried to keep her mind in the world around her, but it kept drifting away. Her world had been out of focus in the last three days, almost like it was on pause, waiting for her to return home.

The ship swung around the docking port, a bit lower than she should have been, but she really didn't care. She just wanted to get back on the ground and into her bed where she could curl up and try to work out what she was going to do.

Water on the landing slip flared up around her fighter as she made a hard landing on the pad. The craft creaked loudly for a moment then bounced on the landing gear as it settled into place. She slapped her hands over the controls, killing the engine and shutting everything down in only a few moments. She had her canopy open before Falco had made contact with the ground.

Lisitza stood up in her fighter, watching the other ship swing around and land, water spraying over her face and flight suit. As soon as he was in place she jumped down from the ship and started back towards _The Great Fox_.

"Where are you going?" Falco asked, hurrying to open his canopy. He had to yell to over his slowing engines.

"Back to the ship. I want to check how the repairs are going," she replied. She looked down as she spoke, her tail dropping to the ground. The words were heavy on her shoulders.

"Fine, I'll do your post-flight as well."

She snorted and continued on towards the warm glow of the open docking bay doors. She was almost to them when a new voice broke in. "Ms. McCloud?"

The vixen came to a stop, her tail flicking in annoyance as her ears twisted around. Slowly she turned back and found herself face to face with a small floating camera and a raccoon woman dressed in a business suit. Hanging around her neck was the overly familiar tag of the media.

"How did you get here? This is a private slip," she snapped.

"I'm Mavis Furst with System Group News. I was given authorization by Army Media Relations, and that wasn't easy to get. I would like to talk to you," she said, stepping a few paces closer, the camera following her.

Lisitza snorted. "I'm not in the mood to talk with anyone Ms. Furst."

The raccoon shook her head. "Your husband died saving this system, you should at least say a few words. People need to know what you think."

"What I think? I think a great pilot is dead, and in six months no one will care how or why."

"Why didn't he tell anyone about you? No one even knew you were married to him until he died."

She clenched her jaw and glared at the reporter. "Get yourself and your nanny-cam off my docking slip," she snapped, then turned around and stomped her way towards the ship, water splashing with each step. The damn reporters were there every time she stopped Andros, or took down some minor invasion. It was always too deep, too annoying, and always in the way.

After stepping into the docking bay, she turned round and looked back at the raccoon, the light framing her body. "You want to know why we kept it a secret? He was embarrassed. Embarrassed that he fell for a woman who couldn't fly a desk let alone a fighter, and I was happy to agree with him. I didn't need anyone digging up dead adopted parents or trying to find my dead real parents. He kept me away, training me to be his equal behind the controls. Coming here was supposed to be the big coming out party, but instead our ship is damaged and he is dead."

The reporter looked at her for a few moments, the look of surprise lasting only a second before her composure returned. "I would like an exclusive interview."

"You can go to hell," she replied, then turned her back on the reporter, walking through the docking bay.

She was pleased to see that the lights were on inside the ship. Some access panels had been replaced while others had been removed. New and old parts were littered around the hallway, each one carefully marked in Slippy's scrawling hand.

The gull neck had undergone the biggest changes. Most of the floor was gone, leaving a narrow walk way on one side. The main support of the space frame was visible, and patched in quite a few places. There were marks on other parts of the beam, indicating more patch work that needed to be done. All of the breaker panels had been replaced with new equipment. Some of them were still open, with some of the wiring yet to be replaced, but they were fitted perfectly.

Voices came down from the bridge, so she bypassed her room and headed towards the conversation. She wanted to know the status of her ship before she went to bed.

Peppy was at the communication console, which was the only one in one piece. Wiring littered the floor, with parts and boards everywhere. Her chair was overflowing with boxes waiting to be unpacked.

"Not your most stellar landing, Lisitza," the seventy year old rabbit said with a small smirk.

"It's been a bad couple months," she replied, walking over to the console.

"So it has. We've been getting messages non-stop since the fight at the black hole; either condolences, or people wanting to talk with you."

"I'm not givng any interviews," she said, turning away and walking over to the jukebox. The lights were off and the top most record was cracked in two.

"Any job offers? We could use a few more jobs," she asked.

"Not one, but we did get the payment from Byron Scientific. Nearly a third larger than I was expecting."

Lisitza shrugged a bit, her tail flicking along her legs. "Had some trouble with raiders, but nothing we couldn't take care off. I guess they appreciated the service."

"Happy clients talk. Let's hope she talks a lot."

"Yes, let's hope so. I'll check the job listings tomorrow; maybe we can find something else we can do. Maybe without Falco; I don't need him hot dogging."

"You're the one who took a missile in the face," the falcon said from the door to the bridge. "The ships are tied down and being refilled. Slippy is down there talking to the reporter."

The vixen let out a long sigh and walked over to the windows. On the landing slip she could see the raccoon and the toad, partly washed out from the light in the bridge. "I hope he keeps his mouth shut."

"He will. He might not like who you currently are, but he won't give away your secret," Peppy said.

She nodded and turned away from the window, looking back at her friends. They both looked a bit worried, though the hare hid it better.

"I'll have another job in the morning," she said, walking past them and pulling open the collar of her flight suit.

Peppy reached out and touched her arm. "You can't do that. General Pepper wants to talk to you first thing in the morning. The news is all over us and the Secretary of the Army wants to present you with a medal for Fox's sacrifice."

"If we can't get another job, it won't matter how many medals they give me. We'll be out of business."

The hare slowly shook his head, his ears flopping around. "Pepper came through with the money. We'll have all the repairs done in another two weeks, maybe less. Slippy has been working around the clock to make sure we'll make it back into the air."

She paused, biting her lip as she looked at her old friend. "So, we'll be fine?"

He nodded his head.

Lisitza took in a deep breath and folded her arms behind her back, the top of her flight suit slumping around her shoulders. "Fine, I'll be in the quarters, but I'm still going to look for a new job. If I can't build a new reputation it won't matter how well the ship flies."

Dropping his hand away her old friend smiled. "One thing at a time. One thing at a time," he said.

She smiled a little bit and walked out of the bridge, towards her quarters. As she reached the door she saw Slippy coming up the stairs.

The vixen paused and waited for her friend to reach her, but he just started to turn away. "Slippy," she called.

"What is it?" he asked as he turned back around.

"You've done a fantastic job with the ship, this has gone faster than I had any right to expect. Thank you."

The toad gave her a curious look, his hands resting on his hips and a hint of a smile fluttering over his face. It didn't last more than a single moment. "It's my job."

Lisitza nodded her head. "And you're damn good at it. I wouldn't hesitate to say you're the best."

"Yep, the best. Button up your suit, it makes you look like a slut," he added, then turned and walked back down the stairs.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	11. The Show that Never Ends

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

11: The Show that Never Ends

Lisitza held a data screen in one hand as she walked through the engine room of _The Great Fox_, checking off each task as she completed it: reconnecting cables, checking readouts and flipping switches. Each step added a new note to the low hum that filled the cramped room.

Once the last connection was in place she moved to the control board on the back wall. The power in the room caused her fur to frizz and lift into the air. The majority of the lights on the board were red, leaving the rest to glow green. After double-checking the data screen, she pressed the intercom on the wall. "Peppy, everything is running and in place down here."

"I'm reading the same thing here. Reset the main power bus and clear the circuits."

She nodded and stood up on her tiptoes so she could reach the reset switch. Grabbing it firmly she twisted it. With a unified pop half the fuses on the board opened, the lights next to them switching to yellow while all the rest turned to a solid red.

Relaxing back to her feet she moved down the length of the board, pressing each fuse back into place. They made a satisfying click as they locked, the yellow lights changing to red. Once she was finished she stretched back up and turned the reset switch back into place.

A deep thrum filled the room, and one by one every light on the board clicked back to green. A moment later came the familiar whine as the gravity engines started to spin up to standby power. She pressed her ears down against her hair to block out the growing noise.

"Lisitza, all systems are green and the power system is at full and stable," the hare said over the radio, increasing his volume to get over the noise in the room.

"Good, I'll head back to the bridge," she replied. Picking up her data screen, she hurried out of the room. The door slid closed behind her, muffling much of the noise. With a sigh she relaxed her ears. The vixen had not expected it to get that loud, or maybe she just wasn't used to it anymore. She reluctantly made a mental note to pick up some ear protection.

Lisitza walked casually through the hallway, watching the lights flicker out. The emergency lights flashed on for a few seconds as they disconnected from the port's power system. A moment later the lights came back on, much brighter than before.

She hurried up the stairs then picked her way along the exposed gull neck. The repairs were nearly done, only a few spots were left to weld, and much of the floor had been replaced. Hopefully they would be finished with the work on the space frame by the next day.

The bridge was nearly repaired as well, most of the consoles had been closed up and rewired. All the wall panels had been reinstalled and a few of the other display systems had been completely replaced. Only the engineering terminal remained in pieces.

"We're on full internal power and the gravity drive is working at one hundred percent," Slippy said as he worked at the half-finished terminal, not even bothering to lift his head free.

She bent down, and set the data screen next to him. "Is there anything else I can do?"

The toad shrugged his shoulders. "Not now. Go and take care of the hounds at the door."

Lisitza let out a sigh and shook her head. Walking across the bridge she looked out at the group of reporters waiting outside the gate. There were fewer now than in the days before, and they had been waiting patiently for her to come out and talk to them.

"You should do it," Peppy said.

"What am I going to tell them? Fox is dead, that's been all over the media for the last five days. I'm not sure what else there is to say."

The old hare took his glasses off and made a show of cleaning them. He looked at the woman before he pulled them back on. "Tell them that he was a great man, and that you're going to do everything to uphold his legacy. It's the truth."

"Or you could be honest," Slippy said, his head still buried in the terminal.

She sighed and flicked out her tail in annoyance. "Fine, I'll go down and spin some story for them." With that said, she walked out of the room and back down to the docking bay.

Stopping at the open door she looked out into the bright sunlight. It reflected off the expanse of ground around the ship, lighting the underside of _The Great Fox_ and the fighters tied down outside. The reporters saw her and moved closer to the fence, calling out her name.

She dug into her vest pocket and pulled out her sunglasses, tucking them over her ears and placing them firmly on her nose. Ignoring them for a moment, she walked out and made a show of inspecting the underside of the gull neck. Their calls grew even louder while she had her back to them, her ears cocking back in annoyance. Finally the frustration of the calls got to be too much. Taking a deep breath she turned around and started across the docking slip.

The reporters pulled away from the fence, lining up around the gate in a crescent moon. They looked eagerly at her, but stayed quiet, the hovering fans of all the cameras creating a breeze around them. She had teased them before, coming out and looking like she was going to them, but instead going to the fighters. She could see in their eyes the hope that this time she would actually say something.

She never broke stride as she walked past her fighter and approached the gate. Opening it with one hand she stepped though and into the middle of the reporters. Carefully she closed the gate, fighting hard to keep her anxiety from showing in her ears and tail. "Hello," she said.

Mavis Furst stepped forward. The raccoon woman looked as good today as she had the other night. "Ms. McCloud, what do you have to say about your husband's death?"

"What do you want me to say? My husband is dead; he died to save this system for a fourth time. Just be glad that Andros was so weak, otherwise it might not have been enough," she responded, her ears rocking slightly forward.

"Why did he keep your marriage secret until now?" a lion asked, his mane pulled back around his head, pulling at the skin of his face and making him look rather unpleasant.

She signed and rubbed her forehead, her fictional past rushing through her memory. "It wasn't a secret. We haven't been to Corneria in two years. He was training me out of the system; he wanted me to be as good as a pilot as he was."

A rat spoke up: "What happened on Sauria?"

Lisitza took in a deep breath and allowed some of her frustration to slip out into the flicking of her tail. She didn't want to talk about Sauria. "A tin pot dictator tried to destroy the world. Fox saved them, like he always did."

"And what about you? What did you do while he was 'saving the world'?"

"That's personal," she snapped.

"Would it have anything to do with your sister?" the lion asked, looking down the way, towards where Kyrstal's ship was still docked.

Her ears took a dive into her hair as she let out a soft growl. Carefully she controlled herself, trying to return then to their proper place. "Yes, while at Sauria I discovered I had a sister. I ask that you leave her alone. She is my sister, and has nothing to do with Fox or his death."

The reporters all turned to look down the way, all but Ms. Furst. While the others were busy trying to spot Krystal's ship, the raccoon nodded. "I will respect that," she said in a voice just above a whisper.

It took a moment for the reporters to focus back on her. This time an older male fox spoke. "Do you feel guilty about what happened?"

She looked at the man through the dark lenses of her glasses, her jaw setting ever tighter. "Guilty? My husband is dead. I feel like hell. This was supposed to be our best day, and now I'm trying to hold his team together without him. Yes, I took his fighter, yes I was out in the belt, and yes he went in an underpowered ship because of me, but he insisted on everything. He wanted me to make a name for myself, to be a part of his team. I just wish I could have been here for him. I wish I could have kept him from dying, but it all just slipped through my fingers and spun out of control.

"If there had been anything I could have done to keep him, I would have. If there was any way I could have made sure he was here instead of me I would have taken it without a moment of hesitation, but I can't make decisions for anyone's life but my own. It's too late now to change any of it," she said, her composure finally cracking as her voice caught somewhere between tears and anger.

The reporters looked at her before the rat cleared his throat. "You would have exchanged your life for his?"

"In a moment," she said in a soft voice.

There was a moments of silence around them as they all looked at her. Finally she placed a hand over her face and turned away, her tail dropping down against her legs. "I'm done."

"Are you going to the ceremony next week?"

"Yes, I will," she said, walked back through the gate. She stopped on the other side, the thin metal separating her from the reporters, but they didn't ask her anything else. They just watched her for a moment then broke apart, each one going to file their story, their cameras following after like obedient pets.

Lisitza started back towards her fighter, running her hand over the leading edge of the wing, feeling the pitting from the fight. It was something real, something from the life she had lost. She moved around the wings and headed toward the ladder.

Carefully she climbed up the ladder and sat down on the wing. The metal was warm on her rear and tail, but no so hot as to make her get up. She rested her arms on the closed canopy and dropped her head against them.

The warmth on her back was nice, but she still felt cold. She didn't want to sit around waiting for the media to work out that something wasn't right about her. She wasn't surprised they had found Krystal, but was worried they had tracked them back to Sauria. So much for the classified mission.

Lifting her head she looked back at _The Great Fox_. While there was still scoring over much of the hull, it was now purely cosmetic, not damage. In two more weeks they would be up and ready to fly, then they could leave Corneria behind. She doubted she would ever return.

The weight of it all seemed to settle into her stomach like a stone. Finally it was too much for her. "I'm not going to sit here and feel like this," she said with a growl as she pushed herself off the wing, landing heavily on her feet. She made a single pass around the fighter to remove the tie-downs and tucked them way.

Climbing back up the ladder, she opened the canopy and settled into the cockpit. Quickly she turned on all the systems as she tucked the radio over one ear. With one press of the radio, she started to speak. "Peppy?"

It took a moment for him to respond "What is it, Lisitza?"

The vixen cleared her throat. "I'm going out for a bit, maybe fly around the canyons. Do you need me to get anything?"

"Nothing you can pick up in the fighter. Stay safe and don't hit the canyon walls."

"I'll do what I can," she replied. As she lifted into the air she noted that the raccoon was the only reporter left. She was still standing at the fence, watching as the fighter took to the air. Strangely her camera was nowhere to be seen.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	12. Rock Star

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

12: Rock Star

Lisitza flew a third of the way around the world before she found a place that interested her; a large desert with some wide canyons in the distance. The river was dry at this time of the year, which made it a bit trickier to follow. Still, she was able to keep herself in position as she circled and weaved against the wind.

"Well, well, well. If it's not the widow McCloud," a voice said over the radio on the general ship to ship channel.

She twisted her head around, searching out the source of the contact only to find another fighter about a thousand feet off her wing and matching her speed. The markings were just as familiar as the voice on the radio, but a glance at the traffic display confirmed it.

"Hello, Wolf," she spat out with distaste.

"Oh, so you have heard of me! I feared that your husband would have hidden me from you." His voice was scratchy over the com.

He moved his fighter closer to hers until one could jump from one wing to another. He looked at her over the distance, a smile on his face.

The vixen smirked at the self-named wolf and pressed the talk button. "He told me that you were a hotshot, and only half the pilot you thought you were." She adjusted her radar, bringing up the active systems and locking onto his transponder. He would see it, but she doubted he would guess just what she was about to do.

"Your husband never liked to admit anyone was better than he was. I assure you that I was the better pilot," he replied with a chuckle.

Her ears tilted back against her headset as she bit off her first response before it left her throat. Licking her lips she glared at the other fighter. "I've seen him fly; I know just how good he was."

"Yet you have not seen me fly."

Lisitza sighed a bit and looked back down at her instruments, banking slightly to stay in the area. Wolf followed her bank and stayed in formation. "Why are you here? Did you just want to taunt me about Fox's death, or were you trying to get into his bed while it was still warm."

"You wrong me my, dear lady. I have no intention of taking you away from the memory of your husband."

She laughed and shook her head. The damn wolf had stolen three of her girlfriends, including her fiancée. She couldn't believe that he wouldn't try again if given the chance.

"Or maybe you're here because you never could out fly Fox, so you thought you would show up and try to out fly me. He trained me to be just as good as he was. Do you think you can show him up by proxy?"

The wolf shook his head and spoke in an amused voice. "I was here to comfort you, not to show you up."

Lisitza glanced down at her radar screen and then back up to him, locking eyes for a moment. "I doubt that," she said, a smirk crossing her muzzle. "It's on." The moment the words left her lips she rolled her fighter towards him.

She flipped over the top of his ship, inverting for a single moment as the two craft came very close to each other. The vertical stabilizers meshed together without touching as she looked down at him with a smirk. She finished the roll, righting herself level with his ship, before going to full power and heading towards the ground.

"You little minx," Wolf said with a laugh and turned around to follow after her.

The vixen turned off the ship-to-ship and focused on the world outside, occasionally glancing back at the instruments. Her radar said Wolf was right on her tail, staying about two hundred feet behind.

Her targeting system lit up as he tried to get a lock on her. She threw on the jammers. It wasn't much, but it would stop him for a moment or two. Outside the window the ground was rushing closer, only about two thousand feet below her. She slowed her descent just a bit.

A moment later her targeting system warned her again. She shifted to the side as the tone started to grow stronger. Below her the floor of the desert was taking up her whole field of vision.

Diving hard, she pulled back up, arching just fifteen feet over the ground, dirt kicking up from her engines. She hit her afterburners, rocketing her into the air and shoving her back into her seat. She grunted, her lack of a flight suit bothering her in the momentary high Gs.

On her radar she could see Wolf following after staying a good five hundred feet above the ground. The dirt in the air worked to block his targeting system, but only for another few moments. She continued her climb as he leveled out below her. Pulling back she inverted and looped back down and slipped into place behind him.

Her targeting radar locked onto the other ship and a smile crossed over her face. "Not as hot as you think," she said.

Wolf ignited his afterburners for a moment, pulling away and lifting up into the sky. His ship rocked back and forth, chaff falling free and blocking her targeting systems.

She gunned it through the chaff and quickly reacquired the ship, the lock getting better with each moment. In a few more seconds she could paint him with the com laser and win their little mock battle.

Before that could happen he spun, inverted and started to drop. As soon as he was down to speed, he activated his thrust reversers and rushed past under her.

Lisitza smiled a bit at this. It wasn't a standard move and hopefully he had reinforced the space frame to pull it off. It wasn't worth spinning around a bit to try and get him back, there were better choices for that.

Gunning her ship, she started dipping down towards the canyons below them. She dropped into one of the wide ones and started hugging the curve of the tall rock walls. Even so she kept a good amount of space between her ship and the rocks.

There had been a point in her life where she would run the canyons as a show of prowess, but that stopped when she nearly got married. Now all the feelings came back as she twisted around a tight turn and into a smaller cannon. Wolf didn't follow; he just flew up over the top of the canyon, following her from above.

She smirked at this, craning her head up for a moment to look at him through the glass of the canopy. "You need more balls," she said with a snort. She lowered her craft down, pressing close to the bottom of the canyon. There was a small stream at very bottom and her ship kicked up a wave of steam where it was vaporized in the heat of her jets.

Her targeting computer blipped at her as a lock was nearly made but the twists and turns needed to follow the canyon only allowed it to last a few moments.

The occasional locks stopped as she neared the end of the canyon, and Wolf's ship had vanished on radar. Carefully she lifted herself up and out of the canyon, still skimming above the ground. She looked around, trying to find the mission craft.

Snorting a bit, she turned her radio back on. "It's not like you to run away," she taunted.

"You're the hotshot, you can find me," he replied.

Lisitza snorted again and went to full power, arching her ship up into the sky. She scanned the air around her, trying to find the other ship. She still hadn't spotted him when she slipped into the clouds.

Pressing forward on her controls, she started to descend. The clouds parted around her to show the world below, unfolding in a wonderful view that she was too busy to appreciate. She scanned around, trying to find Wolf, finally catching a glimmer of light near Windfield.

She gunned her ship and started dropping altitude, the glimmer of light reforming into the other fighter. He knew that she was coming and dived down into the city, swinging around the damaged buildings.

The vixen followed after him, moving at full speed, fighting to keep descending as she danced with being over speed. As she grew closer, she could easily see the damage to the abandoned city. It had been bombed during the first Andros invasion, and the fallout from a nuke about thirty miles away taken care of any chance to rebuild.

She pulled her speed back as she slipped between the empty skyscrapers. Most of the windows were broken, and an occasional light still burned around the decay, but otherwise the city was a ghost town. There was no one to complain about her little dance.

Wolf's ship fluttered on her radar as she passed through the buildings. He was a few blocks away, falling behind her as he maneuvered around the buildings. She gunned the ship, touching the afterburners to move ahead of him.

Pulling the ship down she dropped through a hole in a building, the edges nearly clipping her wings. She never pulled her hands off the afterburner as she jetted through, some of the debris flaring behind her.

She dialed back the speed a bit; the intermittent radar contact showed that Wolf was behind her, far enough away that she could take advantage of it.

The tall buildings were starting to fall away as she approached a shallow crater. When she was close to it, she dropped into a tight turn and hit the afterburners again to overcome the quick change in direction.

In the distance she could see Wolf closing in on her. The targeting system was attempting to lock on to him, the rapidly closing distance between them allowing the system to get a faster lock. At the same time her system told her that he nearly had a good lock on her.

The moment the lock was hard she pulled the trigger, her laser painting over the nose of his ship. As soon as it was confirmed she pulled up and shot into the sky.

As she flew off she heard Wolf's voice on the radio. "That was stupid and dangerous flying. Your husband should have trained you better."

"I still beat you," she teased.

Looking over her shoulder she could see him heading off to the south and arching into the sky. "It was only luck you didn't kill yourself doing it," he replied in a surprisingly serious tone.

Lisitza snorted and changed the frequency on the radio. She wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	13. Boots On

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

13: Boots On

The small black velvet lined box was heavy in her hands, heavier than it should have been considering it only held a small piece of metal and a rainbow colored ribbon. It was a simple medal, which seemed strange as it was the highest award a civilian could win, and usually given to the widow.

Pepper had made some noise about finding a way to reinstate Fox in the army to add a couple other medals to the list. The top brass wouldn't accept it; he had gone AWOL in his youth and had never gone back. The matter of Fox's history of saving the system wouldn't do anything to change that.

Lisitza let out a sigh and dropped the box onto her desk, shoving it behind the terminal. She had enough medals already; she didn't care to see one celebrating Fox's death.

Another week and the ship would be repaired, and then they could get off Corneria and find a job or two. Cleo was already talking about hiring them again for another mission to the belt. It would be safer now that the raiders were gone.

At least she had earned some reputation from her fight in the belt. Job offers weren't exactly rushing in, but there were a few. They were hardly much of anything, but they would be quick to do and add a little money to the bank account.

She placed her head in her hands and shook her head. It still wasn't enough. They were in too much debt to Pepper, and it would take years to earn it all back.

Fox would have been able to do it in a couple months. His name alone was enough to bring in the big jobs, but his widow was hardly worth it.

There was a knock at her door. She lifted her head up and brushed her hands over her hair, flattening it down. "Yes?"

The door slid open to show Krystal on the other side. The blue vixen looked a little bit embarrassed, running her hands over her head and tucking her hair back over her ears. "Lisitza."

The younger vixen smiled and motioned for her to come in. "Krystal, it's good to see you."

She walked in, looking around the room a bit. Finally she brushed the sheets back on the unmade bed and sat down, tucking her tail around her hips.

"What brings you here?"

"A few things. I saw all the speeches. They were very moving."

Lisitza frowned a bit and shifted slightly in her chair. "I would rather my male self wasn't eulogized to my face. I feel like I'm dead, but I'm not. Fox is dead. Sometimes I don't know who I am anymore."

The older vixen nodded, crossing her legs at the ankle. "You're who you are on the inside, not just the outside. I'm sure everyone has told you this a dozen times already."

"It's not the first time I've heard it. I just don't feel like I'm me anymore."

Krystal nodded, but was frowning a bit, her ears twisting away slightly. "Are you wearing your necklace?"

She reached up to touch her chest, feeling the fur under her shirt. The slight shake of her head was her only answer.

"You should wear it. It's the last bit of your old body. You should keep it close to you. Don't let it go."

"Wearing the last part of my old self won't make me feel any better. It will just be a reminder of who I used to be and what I lost," Lisitza replied as she turned her head away, her tail pulling closer to her legs.

The older vixen took in a long breath and nodded her head. "I see. I wish you felt differently. I think you need to hold onto that last bit of yourself."

"I'm doing what I can, but it's not easy. I feel so empty. Like I've lost my balance, and everything I stood on has been taken away. Damn it," she finally said, covering her eyes with a hand, her ears laying flat against her head.

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Krystal asked: "Is there anything I can do?"

The younger vixen shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "I really don't know."

Krystal nodded a bit, licking her lips. "Then this won't help any. I'm leaving in about three hours. One of my contacts came up with a strong lead, stronger than I've seen since Sauria. I have to follow it. I have to find where it leads."

Lisitza looked up at her sister. "Good luck. Keep me inform. I want to know what you find. If you need me, if you need any of us, just call and I will do everything I can." She leaned forward and placed a hand on the other vixen's shoulder, while the other hand rested on Krystal's knee.

Krystal placed her own hand on top of the one of her knee. "Thank you, that means a lot. For three years no one but me cared. I'm happy someone else is on my side."

"You're my sister, and the only family I have. Family has to stick together."

The blue vixen smiled, and then moved forward, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling her tightly into a hug. Lisitza froze for a second from the sudden move, then started to relax, returning the hug the best she was able. It grew in strength as they both pressed together and the younger vixen suddenly felt a little better.

Finally Krystal pulled away with a smile on her face. "You keep safe. It's a big universe out there and it's not always a nice place."

Lisitza nodded and smiled a bit to her sister. "I'll do what I can, but being in the not nice places is the core of my job."

Krystal let out a slight sigh. "Seems like it's mine as well. Hopefully this lead will turn up something useful for once."

"If you find anything, pass it my way and I'll send it to Pepper. He might be able to find something to help you."

The vixen smiled a bit, her blue eyes twinkling. "Thank you."

She smiled in return.

There was a moment of silence, and then Krystal tilted her head to the side, her ears flicking back. "Your eyes are green."

"What?"

"They're green. Not blue. Not like mine. They're green."

Lisitza turned around and looked for a mirror, only finding the one she had covered with black cloth. Her head snapped back to look at her terminal. With a flick of her fingers she brought up the video com, setting the feed to loop so she could see her face.

Opening her eyes wide she looked into the camera and then back at the screen. Her eyes were green, not the dark green they had been as a man, it was very light, with a touch of blue, but there was a definite shade of green among all the blue.

"They were blue when I changed. Maybe... maybe I'm turning back, without the spirits' help." Her tail was flicking in excitement.

"That would be fantastic," the other vixen said smiling widely.

Lisitza nodded, turning the display off and standing up from her chair. "I'll have to keep an eye on myself for a few days to see if anything else changes. Maybe things will go in reverse of the original changes." She reached down to rub her stomach as she spoke.

"Maybe," Krystal replied, and then hugged her sister again.

This time she was happy to return the hug. "Let me walk you out of the ship. It's the least I can do."

"Of course," she replied.

Together the two blue vixens walked through the ship. Neither one had anything more to say, but the silence wasn't so overwhelming anymore.

They finally parted at the gate to the docking slip, sharing a small smile as Krystal started walking back to her own ship.

Turning around, she found Peppy running towards her across the docking slip, his ears trailing out behind his head and a look of panic in his eyes. "Lisitza," he said, gasping for breath, his whole body shaking as he came to a stop.

She hurried to his side, running an arm under his, holding him up. "What's wrong?"

The old hare paused, panting, trying to catch his breath. "Raiders, at Aquas."

The vixen bit her lip and pulled the hare close to her. "Come on, let's get to the bridge," she said, helping him back across the docking slip.

By the time they reached the docking bay he finally had caught his breath and was walking on his own. She still moved slowly so he could keep up with her as they climbed up the staircase.

They stepped over the few remaining open panels in the goose neck on the way to the bridge. Slippy and Falco were already there, hunched over the communication panel.

"Guys?" she asked.

Falco looked up and moved to the side, the hypercom image was on the screen. Four large ships where moving in over Kew, the engines glowing brightly.

"How old is this?"

"Seven minutes," Peppy said.

She took in a long breath. "And the military?"

Slippy shrugged. "There's nothing in the area. Aquas is suppose to be safe."

"When can we leave?" she asked.

The toad gave her a nasty look. "Three hours, if I push it, and if I violate every no-fly zone we might get there in four and a half days."

A growl rose up in the back of her throat, looking at the star chart on the display. "On the other side of the system. Damn," she said. Her eyes traced along the chart, from Cornaria, across the system, past the sun and over to where Aquas was currently in its orbit. The location was a familiar one, and one that didn't move. "Where is it in relation to the second egress point?"

Falco's head shot up. "What?"

"Where are they in their orbits? close?"

"Close enough to join the fight," the hare replied.

Lisitza took in a long breath, running a hand over her face, her eyes closing as her mind raced. Points connected together, crossing over the image of the system held behind her eyes. "Falco, I need a full load on my fighter. Slippy, I want the ship heading to Aquas as soon as you safely can. Peppy, call the General, get _The Great Fox_ cleared for a direct trip, and tell him to warm up the black hole, I'm going through."

"Lisitza?" Flaco said in a surprised tone.

"It's the only way to get there before the raiders do too much damage."

"But the wormhole?"

"I've done it before, and I'll do it again. Now stop standing around and get to work," she ordered. Then turning around, she quickly walked out of the bridge to her quarters.

The three men were left looking at each other in surprise any worry. Peppy let out a long sigh and shook his head. "She can't--"

"I know," Falco said.

"You've got to do something."

The falcon shook his head. "I can't stop her. I know that look. She will not stop for anything, not even her own safety. But I have an idea." He spun on his heel and headed down towards the docking bay.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	14. Wrestle the Bear

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

14: Wrestle the Bear

Lisitza frowned a bit as she walked out of _The Great Fox_ to look at her fighter. It wasn't that her ship wasn't ready to go, in fact it was exactly as she had ordered it to be. But Falco was loading the last load of weapon onto his own fighter.

"What do you think you're doing?" the vixen demanded.

Falco shoved the last missile into place under the wing, then checked the connections. His hand was still on the mounting point as he lowered the lift slightly to be sure it would hold. When he seemed satisfied that everything was in place, he dropped the lift all the way and pulled it clear of the wing.

"Falco! What do you think you are doing?"

"You have two multi-target missiles under each wing, plus three normal missiles. I have an identical load," he explained, pushing the cart past her and back into the ship.

She glared at him as he went past, her hands firmly placed on her hips and her tail flicking in anger. The new missiles had cost a lot of money, most of what she had made on the last job. She didn't want to see them wasted. "You are not going," she said.

The falcon walked up to her and looked her directly in the eyes. She could see the familiar steel in his light blue eyes, the kind that would never bend, and never give up. They stood toe to toe for a few moments before he reached up and tugged at her flight suit.

Lisitza started to step away but he opened the collar of her suit and pulled at the front, opening it down to her navel and showing off her bra for the entire world to see. He then pulled the suit up against her body, twisting it a bit, before grabbing her hands lifting them until she was holding the suit up over her breasts.

Now that her hands were out of the way he pulled the zipper up to her neck, making sure it was a snug fit. Snapping her collar closed he gave the suit one last inspection. "There, now it's on properly. You would have hurt yourself the way you had it before," he said, then turned away from her.

The vixen stood there for a few moments, her hands still on her breast, before pulling her ears tightly down against her hair. "You have your orders, you are not coming with me!" she said, thrusting her finger in his direction.

Falco shook his head. "There are four ships. You can't take them all on your own. I'm coming with you," he said, climbing into his fighter and pulling the canopy closed.

She closed her eyes and ran both of her hands over her head. "Damn it," she finally said then stalked over to her own ship. Climbing inside, she connected herself to life support and closed the cockpit.

Running her hands over the controls, she brought up all the systems. She clipped her headset on as she fired up the engine. "Peppy, do we have clearance to the black hole?"

"Just came in, you're clear for a direct flight and you're allowed full speed once you're at one hundred," the hare replied.

The vixen nodded. "Good, I'm going to the military band," she said and flipped the channel. Gunning her controls she lifted into the air. The radar display showed that Falco was staying right on her tail. Once she was clear of the city she went to full power, arching into the clouds as the air around her cracked from the speed.

She programmed Falco into her friend and foe as she rose up into the air through a layer of clouds and up into the blue sky. At her speed the blue was quickly fading away to black. She felt the gravity start to change for a few moments until the artificial gravity came on and pulled her back into her seat.

Her engines sputtered as the air thinned around them. Pulling the throttle back she turned the jet engines off and activated the gravity and reaction drives. There was a moment where the ship jerked from the change over as she pushed the throttle forward, accelerating to twice the speed she had in the atmosphere.

Once she was a hundred miles above the surface, she went to full power. The gravity threw her back into her seat, the flight suit pulling tight as she rocketed out of the planet's gravity towards the asteroid belt.

"Twenty minutes until we're at the black hole," Falco said over the com laser.

"I'm aware of that," she said.

There were a few moments of silence of the radio before he cleared his throat. "I'm slaving my ship to yours."

She snorted at that. "My system is locked."

"I would double check that," he replied.

Lisitza touched a few things on her flight computer, bringing up the synchronization system. It was active and connected to Falco's ship. Growling a bit she tried to deactivate the system only to find that it had been locked on.

Her growl went deeper as she pulled open the access panel, finding the master encoding switch had been pulled. There was no way she could block out the connection from whatever ship had the switch, and her systems confirmed that was Falco.

"Damn it Falco, what the hell are you trying to do?" she said, slamming the access panel closed.

"Making sure you come out the other side," he replied.

"What are you talking about?"

The falcon sighed over the com channel. "I've seen the way you're acting, I've seen what you've done. You've been on the edge since Fox died. It's in your eyes. You're not all there, not right now. You're pushing the risks too far and ignoring your own safety. If I let you go out there alone, you're not going to come back."

A growl came up in her throat but she bit it back down, composing herself before she pressed the mic button. "You have no idea how I'm feeling right now. Don't assume that because I'm flying a bit better I'm going to do something stupid."

"Going? I pulled the gun camera footage of your dogfight with Wolf, both yours and his. You were four feet from the ground. Four feet! If I flew like that you would have broken my wings, and rightly so. It was pure luck that you survived at all."

Lisitza's hands grew tight around her controls, the knuckles going white under her fur. "I knew exactly what I was doing."

"So did Greg. You remember what happened to him?"

There was a moment of silence as her ears pressed back against her skill. "That's low," she finally said in reply. Greg had been at the academy with them. He was more than a bit of a hotshot, and he had liked to show off how good a pilot he was. At least until he flew into the bottom of a valley at full speed.

"Fox--"

"I'm not Fox!" she yelled into the microphone, the cross talk squealing over what her friend was saying.

There were a few moments of silence as the radio settled out. Finally Falco came back on the line. "Fox, Lisitza, it doesn't matter what your name is, it doesn't matter what your gender is. I can see it in your eyes; you're all messed up about this, and you are going to get yourself killed."

She shook her head, but didn't say anything over the radio.

Falco spoke again, his voice soft, hardly audible over the background hiss. "I can't stop you doing this. Whatever you feel like, you're still going to try to save the day. That's how I know you're still the same person inside. Without even a second thought, you're out here trying to save those people. It's who you are, and that will never change. You will do everything you can to save a life, so my ship is slaved to yours. You might not make it through by yourself, but you will make sure we both survive."

"Damn it, Falco," she said, pulling her hands off the controls and muting the mic at the same time.

"You're my friend; I'm not going to let you hurt yourself," he said, his voice shaking slightly.

Lisitza folded her hands in her lap, watching the blackness of space pass around her. The flight computer said they were ten minutes away from the black hole.

She didn't know what to think. She wanted to say that he was wrong, that she wasn't acting reckless or putting herself at risk. It didn't feel like she was, it felt like she was doing everything right, and soundly. If she really had been doing everything correctly, Falco wouldn't have had to fix her flight suit.

Maybe he was right. Maybe she was putting herself at risk. She didn't know, and she didn't know how to tell. He was right that slaving his fighter to hers would make sure she did everything exactly right.

Licking her lips she grabbed the controls again and pressed the mic button. "I'm not sure I believe what you're saying, but maybe I have been a bit too reckless. We're going to have a long discussion about this once we take care of the raiders, but for now I'm going to get us through the wormhole."

"I'll be more than happy to talk," he replied.

She sat back in her seat, pulling up her flight computer and starting to calculate the trajectory needed to make it through to the other side. They were five minutes away and the black hole was starting to glow red as it began to open.

Three dots appeared on her radar display, flagged red. She didn't have to ask who they were, the ID numbers on the screen were as familiar as her own. Turning on the general channel she keyed on the mic. "Hello, Wolf," she said.

"Hello McCloud. I suspected you would take the black hole," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"There are four ships; there are only two of you. No matter how well armed you are, you need backup. StarWolf is willing to give that to you."

The vixen paused a moment. He was undoubtedly right, the more guns they had the easier it would be to stop the raiders. There had been a time when StarFox could have taken them on their own, but with just the two of them they could use all the help they could get.

"You're right, we need the backup. Slave yourself to my ship, we're going in single file. Get your team behind Falco and be ready to go full throttle once we're clear."

"We'll see you on the other side. Wolf out."

Lisitza nodded her head, watching as the dots on her screen moved in line behind her own ship. The worm hole was only a minute away and had started to dominate the space outside.

Taking in a deep breath, she clenched her hands on her controls then took all five ships into the wormhole.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	15. First In

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

15: First In

The light inside the blackhole was too bright to look at—so bright that it filled the cockpit even with the screens set to maximum. The heads up display gave her enough information to fly through the twisting unspace, but things were tight in places, with debris spinning about and moving in random directions. It made the flight unpredictable.

Lisitza rubbed her eyes, the strain of staring at the brightly backlit display starting to get to her. At the edge of the screen was the timer, counting down how much longer they had until they reached the end of the wormhole.

Banking the ship slightly she avoided a small rock and continued on her way. There were only seventy seconds left, but time was passing far too slowly for her taste.

The swirling light of the unreality outside the window was starting to show through the tinting. Hints of color and depth had begun to spin around behind the thin blue lines of the HUD. Her mind began to make connections between the half-glimpsed images; things were starting to look familiar.

With a snap, the distorted image came together to become the face of her mother. The vixen pulled her hands off the controls, letting out a small yelp as the image seemed to turn its head and look directly at her with a disappointed frown.

She turned away from the image and covered her eyes. Slowly she looked back at the colors, peeking through her fingers. The image had gone, leaving just the unreality behind.

Bending down she dug around in a side pocket and pulled out an old pair of sunglasses. Flicking them open, she placed them on her nose and pushed them into place. The extra tinting helped block out the extra light, though it made the display hard to see.

"We're almost through," she said, watching the timer tick down to thirty seconds.

The ships behind her didn't say anything, but she could still see them on her radar, the image fluttering from the wormhole's interference.

Lisitza returned both hands to the controls, increasing her speed slightly so they would be able to break out of the wormhole. As the timer continued its countdown she searched the muted light, trying to find the telltale dark spot that indicated an opening to the real universe.

The HUD started to flicker, a large collection of rocks showing up on the display. She increased her attitude to skim over the top of them, still trying to find the exit.

On her display, the timer dropped to zero.

She dropped her hand from the throttle and started typing at the flight computer, trying to rework her time calculations. The small maneuvers must have slowed them down more than she had expected.

Clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth she tried to guess her time between known points. By the time she had it all worked out she saw the point of darkness she had been waiting for.

The vixen smiled and pushed her throttle forward. "Get ready, we'll be crossing the threshold in a few moments," she said, her speed quickly increasing.

The other ships matched her pace, increasing their speed at the same rate she did. It wasn't as important for them; her speed would open the wormhole and the rest would follow through in her slip stream.

As they neared the threshold of the wormhole, the blackness started to grow brighter, beginning to swirl with blue and white light. Grabbing tightly onto her controls, she dove to full speed.

The unreality around her bent and twisted as the light surged as bright as the sun then fluttered into pure darkness. She jetted through the opening, feeling herself thrown forward against her restraints as the transition sucked away most of her speed.

Her computer beeped at her as it reacquired the system wide nav position system, confirming that she had come out exactly where she had expected to be. Around her the canopy started to fade away, leaving her with a view of the stars.

In the distance she could see Aquis, the blue and white globe looking calm, and so close to them.

Pulling off her sunglasses she tucked them away as the radar showed the other four ships slipping out of the worm hole. As soon as the last one was clear it started to flicker, then snapped closed behind them.

Lisitza keyed her mic. "Ready?"

"Ready," the others said, the four voices mingling and creating feedback.

They jetted through the sky, the active radar pounding out in front of them, the four raider ships starting to become clear on her HUD. Three were starting to descend into the lower atmosphere while the third stayed in a high orbit, probably organizing the raid. Fighters filled the space around the ships, cruising low and shooting the orbiting satellites.

"Looks like the planetary defense system is down," Wolf said over the radio.

"The system was installed before the first invasion, the security probably hasn't been updated since," Leon, one of the Star Wolf wingmen, said. His voice came across clipped, the radio cutting off the natural high pitch of his vocal range.

The vixen nodded a bit, watching as some of the raider fighters turned and started towards the five of them. "Wolf, can anyone in your team bring the system back online?"

"Negative."

She frowned a bit, watching as the four ships grew ever larger. There were different models of ships, each one having been repaired, though not all that well. The biggest was the ship in orbit, a rebuilt battle cruiser that was as old as Peppy.

Tapping her hands on the controls she watched as the fighters closed in. "Falco and I will take the battle cruiser, Wolf, get your team into the atmosphere and take the other ships down."

Wolf paused for a moment over the com channel then finally clicked on his mic. "Very well, but we still share the glory."

"Deal," she responded, then locked her targeting computers onto the fighters. Lights started to flair as the enemy fighters started to fire at them.

Wolf's team banked to the side and started towards the planet as the plasma bolts rained down around them. A few pelted over the fighter's hull, but bounced off the shielding.

Lisitza turned her attention back to the space in front of her, watching as the enemy ships swept past them, shooting as they went.

The vixen returned fire, raining short blasts down over the attacking ships, clipping one on the wingtip. There was a flash as the whole wing exploded. The remains of the ship sailed past her, a little too close for comfort.

"Crappy shields," Falco said with a chuckle, shooting another fighter. This one spun off and impacted a third.

"It's a bad time for commentary," she replied, banking her ship as a group of three fighters came for her. She ran her plasma fire over the three of them, taking out the one in the lead as she blew past the other two.

The battle cruiser grew larger on her display as the fighters came back around. It wasn't close enough for her to get a lock on the ship, not yet. The fighters rushed around in front of them, dropping mines in their wake.

Spinning her ship Lisitza fired at the flashing mines. She took one out with her first shot, but the second one slipped passed the plasma bolts then exploded a dozen feet off her wing.

Her fighter jerked to the side, warning horns starting to sound all around her. The lights in her cockpit flickered and one of the display screens shut down. Her ship continued to spin, even when she tried to cancel it out.

"I lost some systems," she said over the radio, a buzz starting to fill her ears. She pulled the throttle back, closing her eyes as the view outside continued to spin around.

She continued fighting with the controls. There was a response as she pushed to the side, the spin starting to slow down, taking almost a minute before she was stable.

Reaching over she typed at the damage control systems. Most of it was red, with some yellow and green littering the rest. It didn't make senses; the system was reporting too many errors for a simple mine impact.

Lisitza twisted her fighter as another ship came towards her. It raked some plasma at her, but she spun her ship so they hit the shields away from the mine damage.

The ship shook as the plasma bolts hit, but there wasn't any new damage. In fact the opposite was true, some of the red lights flicked over to green. A few fluttered back to red but most of the ones that flipped over stayed flipped over.

"Lisitza, can you read me?" Flaco said his voice spotty over the radio.

"I can hear you," she replied, working at the damage control system.

"That explosion ripped open your patch job. I'm seeing sparking from inside the hull."

"Patch job?" she asked to herself, her mind locking for a moment then jumping back to the last battle. She had patched it wrong and had never filed down the edges. She was going to do it, but Fox's fake death got in the way. The explosion must have blown the patch and sent the bent hull sections into the wiring harness.

Biting her lip she touched the mic button. "Go on ahead, I'll try to get the repair system working and I'll try to catch up," she said.

Flaco clicked his tongue softly. "Fine, but keep your flank covered. I can keep these guys off of you for a bit, but once I break away..."

"I'll be fine. Go; take care of the raiders," she ordered.

Her friend started to shoot at the fighters around them, getting the majority of them to follow after him. A few others stayed behind, moving closer to her.

The targeting computer was working, though with the radar down it wasn't locking hard. Still, it was enough to get a basic lock for a multi-target missile. Once it was locked she fired off the missile.

It streaked away from her ship, splitting as it went. The four separate warheads each targeted a different fighter. With the fighters so close there wasn't any time to avoid the impact; the debris riding the shockwave buffeted at her ship.

Lisitza turned back to the damage control system, trying to find out why so much had gone down. Everything had three different power connections; one cut bundle of wires shouldn't have caused so many problems. Something else must have gone wrong, otherwise half her ship would not have been screaming like it was the end of the world.

Looking up she watched Falco do an attack run on the battle cruiser. The fighters had focused on him, leaving her alone for the time being. Closer to the planet she saw Wolf's team working over the other three smaller ships. One was smoking as it dropped too fast into the atmosphere, and the other two were quickly heading in the same direction.

"Panther, help Falco, I'm out of the fight," she said, directing the order to Wolf's other wingman.

"I do not--" he started to say.

Wolf cutting him off, his voice washing his out for a few moments. "You heard her, go help the falcon. We can take the other two ourselves."

"Very well," Panther replied. His ship pulled up from the atmosphere and started towards the battle cruiser.

As the fight raged on outside her ship she continued working with her damage computer. Finally it told her that the second wiring harness wasn't responding, and only part of the third was active. The damage locations matched up to some of what had happened on Sauria. They hadn't been properly repaired.

Grunting a bit she placed a hand on her face and sighed. "Damn it, Slippy," she said through clenched teeth. The toad was suppose to have fixed everything, but had done as bad a job of it as she herself had done. Between the two of them they had left her a sitting duck.

Crossing her arms over her chest she settled back in her seat, forced to watch the battle as it unfolded in front of her. She was too far away for her to even throw out a missile to help them.

The battle cruiser was taking a hell of a lot of punishment. Wolf and Leon had taken out the other three ships and were quickly heading back to orbit. The fighters fell quickly, each one blooming out into bright light in space.

Missiles streamed from the underside of the cruiser, rushing towards her allies. It was close, but one of her friends was hit. A wing burst into flames and then ripped away, but the ship was still functioning.

"Status?" she asked on the radio.

"I was hit, but I'm still good," Leon said, the radio popping as he spoke.

"Then pull back, provide covering fire," Wolf ordered, taking the words out of her muzzle.

The vixen smiled a bit and leaned back in her seat. Wolf was a good leader, but that was never in question.

They continued the fight. Fire started to spill out of the cruiser, but it never lasted longer than a few seconds. Occasionally the fighter bay would open to launch more fighters, but that came to an end when two missiles were launched into the bay, destroying everything inside.

Lisitza curled up in her seat the best she could, watching the lights flare as the battle raged on. By now the cruiser was limping badly, the engines starting to flame out as they tried to accelerate. There was a brilliant flash of light as the engines finally exploded, rocking the ship, crippling it, but leaving it intact.

Falco and Wolf moved in through the flying plasma bolts. Each of them sent a full complement of missiles raining down over the damaged cruiser. A few moments later the ship flashed again, fire gushing out into the vacuum as the cruiser was split down the middle from the exploding fusion core.

As the two halves of the destroyed ship started to drift away, the four fighters turned around and came back towards where she was drifting. They came to a stop next to her, close enough that she could see her friends through the canopies.

"How you doing?" Falco asked.

She shrugged slightly. "Main engines are out, both reaction and gravity. I have some maneuvering, but that's about it. I'm going to need a tow back to the surface."

"My tractor system is down," Falco said.

"Mine is active, I would be more than happy to escort Ms. McCloud to the surface," Panther said with his usual flourish.

Lisitza turned to look at the panther, his black fur making him somewhat hard to see through the glass of his cockpit. "Thank you. I would appreciate that." She felt the heat of a slight blush in her ears as she spoke.

"It's the least we could do," Wolf said with a chuckle. "There are very few people who can navigate the black hole, but I am not one of them. You are truly as good a pilot as Fox, maybe a bit more reckless, but still a damn good pilot."

The vixen found herself blushing a bit under her fur. She tucked her ears down a bit but found herself smiling. "Thank you."

He chuckled again and pulled his fighter back. "It was a pleasure working with you. I wish you could have joined in the fight."

"So do I," she replied. "So do I."

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	16. Who Else Could it Be?

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

16: Who Else Could it Be?

The rain was swirling around the five fighters as they descended towards the ground. It was thick over the canopy, obscuring most everything but the positioning lights on the other craft. Lisitza held onto the controls, more out of habit than anything else. She could only move the control surfaces on one side of the ship, and the atmospheric jets were down along with the rest of the engines.

"We are nearing the ground, are you ready to be released?" Panther asked over the radio.

Craning her head, she could almost make out the landing lights for the docking slip as a gust of wind shoved her slightly to the side. Her navigation systems were giving her garbage and the lights were the only clue she had of her location.

She narrowed her eyes, watching the lights get closer to her. The middle of a rain storm wasn't a place she would have wanted to land with a working navigation system, but it was where the local government had told them to land.

Another gust shook her fighter, swinging her away from the landing pad. "I'll start prepping my ship, but we need to double our separation. With this wind I don't want the risk."

"We're already on it," Wolf said over the radio.

The vixen leaned back in her seat, looking over her displays and gauges. The electronic atmospheric systems were down, but the old fashioned pressure gauges were working. They were telling her she was slowing down and was nearly two hundred feet from the ground.

Reaching down beside her seat she pulled the manual landing gear release. There was a low thud as two of the three gears locked into place, green lights coming up on the edge of the instrument panel. The nose gear didn't quite have the weight to lock itself down.

"Panther, could you give me a good shake?" she asked, pulling her restraints against her body.

"Of course," he replied. A moment later her ship started to shake, lifting her up and dropping her about twenty feet. The shaking sent her flying against her restraints, but also knocked the front landing gear about until it locked down with a thump, and the last light turned green.

Lisitza smiled a bit as she keyed on the radio. "That did it. I'm ready to drop when you are."

"Moving you into position," he replied, as the shaking slowed then came to a stop. Her gauges said she was stable and about fifty feet above the ground. She would have preferred to be a bit lower, but the tractor system had a fixed radius and couldn't get closer.

"I suggest you hold on tight. I'm dropping you in three, two, one." there was a lurch as the tractor field turned off. She and the ship fell to the ground, gliding forward a little bit as the wind swirled around her. She hit the ground hard, her body slamming back into the seat, pinning her tail and sending a jolt of pain up her spine. Some of the systems that had been green on the damage report flicked over to red. A moment later the power in her ship died, the controls locking as all the remaining screens flicked off.

Lisitza let out a soft sigh and started turning off all the switches. There were a few sputters of power but the ship stayed quiet. Once she had everything in the correction position she started to undo her harness. A creak filled the cockpit, starting low and growing deeper until it shook her seat. The ship began to shake and lurch. After a moment's pause her whole ship tilted forward. Then with a crunch, the nose of her fighter fell to the ground.

She blinked in surprise and looked out over the ground through the rain-soaked canopy. "And repair the nose gear" she muttered as she pulled free of her harness. The damage wasn't that bad; the ship was designed to land without the gear once or twice. The only real damage was to the gear itself.

With nimble hands she disconnected her flight suit from the ship and pulled open the canopy. The wind whipped the rain around her face and ears, soaking her fur in only a few moments. She hurried out of the cockpit and stood on the slanted wings, bracing herself on the wet metal. Grabbing her ship with one hand she pulled the canopy closed with the other.

As soon as it was latched she climbed down from the disabled fighter and hid under the wing. Wiping the water from her face with one paw she looked around for her friends. The other four fighters were settled at the other end of the landing strip and her friends were quickly climbing out into the soaked air.

Lisitza rushed over to them, her boots slapping at the standing water on the platform as the wind blew it over her face. She ducked under the wing of Falco's fighter, looking up at her old friend as he climbed down to be with her.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

"Mostly," he replied with a smile.

"How is your ship?" Wolf asked her as he came up under the wing with them, his gray fur matted down from the rain.

She looked back at her fighter. "Going to need a lot of work. I'm sorry about my ship going down. You needed me in that fight, and all I could do was take down a couple of fighters."

The wolf shook his head. "You took us through the black hole. That was the most important thing anyone could ask of you."

Lisitza shook her head, her ears flicking back into her wet hair. "I should have done more."

He shook his head and placed a hand on her should. "You did everything that you could, and that was more than anyone else here could have done. Without you, we would never have stopped the raiders."

She was about to say something else, but bit her lip as Leon hurried over to them. The lizard didn't seem to be bothered by the rain as it rolled over his head and along his back. Panther was following right behind him, a large umbrella held over his head, keeping his black fur perfectly dry.

"Incoming pols," the lizard said, pointing across the platform. In the distance, obscured by the rain, she could see a dozen people standing close together, their umbrellas forming an unbroken, if lumpy, line.

Wolf nodded and brushed his hand over his head, forcing some of the water from his hair. "We had better go speak to them."

"Go ahead; I should try to get a look at the damage to my ship. I might be able to repair some of it when the rain clears," the vixen replied.

He let out an honest laugh and placed both hands on her shoulders. "You don't get to slip away that easily. We need to stand around and allow the politicians to bask in our reflected glory," he said with a smile. It was a purely genuine smile, unlike so many she had seen from him in the past.

Falco nodded his head, his crest flicking back slightly. "He's got a point, Blue Bomb. You can't duck this one."

The vixen looked between the two men then rubbed her forehead. "Fine, let's go talk to the government."

Panther brought his umbrella over the group, leaving only Leon out in the rain, but he didn't appear to mind. They pressed close under the cover as they walked across the docking slip. The rain was growing heavier around them, the standing water washing around their feet.

Ten men in rumpled suits were waiting for them. Nine of the ten were holding umbrellas, the last was standing in the collective cover. The middle-aged hare was also the only one whose suit was clean and pressed.

"Gentlemen, lady, you have no idea how pleased I am to see you," he said, offering out a hand to Wolf.

He took the hare's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Thank you. I am Wolf, the leader of StarWolf, and this is my team. Leon, and Panther," he said, pointing towards his friends.

The hare looked back at Lisitza with a bit of a question then back over to Falco, his hand half extended. Lisitza took the hand, surprising the hare, and gave it a quick shake. "I'm Lisitza, the leader of StarFox, and this is my wing man, Falco."

Looking a bit surprised, the hare took his hand back from her. "I see. I hadn't realized..." he stopped from a moment then shook his head. "I am Maxwell Sterling. I'm the governor of Aquas."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. We really should get out of the rain," Wolf added.

"That will be arranged. We'll do everything we can to help you. Repair crews are already on their way."

"Thank you, but I'm going to need a full power system overhaul," she said.

The hare smiled at her in a way that would look good on camera. "It will be done within a week." The governor clearly had no idea about what he was promising. It would be easier to replace Leon's damaged wing. The repair work on her ship would take at least a month, but it would be enough time to allow Slippy to arrive and make sure the work was done correctly.

"Do you know who the raiders were?"

"No. We think they were part of a small group the military took in a couple weeks ago, but there's nothing known for sure. The army says they will be here in two days. Until then local space is closed."

Wolf nodded his head. "We'll help them any way we can."

"I'm sure they will welcome that," the hare replied. One of the other men touched him on the shoulder and nodded slightly. "We have a room where we can talk. The media will be here soon, but you'll have an opportunity to dry off first."

"Good, I think we all need that."

Panther smirked at this, but said nothing.

The governor nodded and looked back over his shoulder. "Come along," he said and started walking down the pad. In a short time Lisitza could start to make out a standing briefing room in the distance, the rain running down the slanting roof in an unbroken cascade.

"What is this? A typhoon?" she asked as the wind send the rain spraying against her.

"The edge of one. It grounded what little defenses we have."

Wolf chuckled a bit. "That's probably why they decided to attack. They weren't expecting Lisitza to get us through the black hole."

"I don't believe anyone was expecting that," the hare replied.

They continued on in silence until they reached the briefing room. One of the governor's aides unlocked the door and the five pilots entered, along with the governor and one other aide. The seven people were enough to make the room feel cramped.

Leon went over to the heater and turned it on full. The warm air started to fill the room.

The governor's aide open a cupboard, pulled out a stack of towels and passed them out. Lisitza took one and worked it over her face and hair, pulling out the majority of the water.

"This room is too small to have the press come in," Panther said, leaning against the wall next to the briefing computer.

"The press conference will be in the main hanger in half an hour," the governor said.

Wolf smiled at this, working the towel over his head then along his flight suit, getting the rest of the rain off. "That will be fine."

Lisitza looked around, the smell of the wet fur had filled the room, and the number of people inside was quickly raising the temperature. She was also the only female in the group and felt a little uncomfortable being in such close quarters. A quick retreat was in order. "Can I get a hypercom before then? I want to check in with the rest of my crew,"

The governor looked to his aide, who just shrugged his shoulders.

Panther smiled a bit and walked over to the vixen. "My fighter is equipped with a hypercom system. You may use it," he said, offering her his umbrella.

She smiled as she took the umbrella. "Thank you."

He smiled in return, handing her a keyfob. "Do be quick."

"I'll be as fast as I can," she said as she hurried out of the room and back into the rain.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.


	17. Number Four

Something Blue

The Other Life

A _Star Fox Adventures_ Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

17: Number Four

Lisitza made her way back towards the fighters, the rain making it hard to see anything much further past the end of her hand. It took her some time, but finally she found the familiar blue trimmed space craft.

Climbing up onto the wing, she unlocked the canopy and pulled it open. Keeping the umbrella over her head, she climbed inside. It took a little work to close the canopy without letting too much rain in, but she managed it. The inside of the ship was rather plush, red and tan fabric covering everything with neat handwritten labels on the controls.

She closed the umbrella, placed it in the labeled slot, then started up the electrical systems. Everything came online, the displays flashing to life as the system status read green across the board.

Licking her lips, she started to navigate through the unfamiliar system to get to the Hypercom. It wasn't a standard system for a spacecraft, so it wasn't where she expected it to be. She did take a few wrong turns but eventually found the correct system.

Bringing up the Hypercom system, she had it track down the nearest node and connect to it. It took a few moments before the lock-on was complete and the node was active.

Once everything was locked in she put in the tracking code for _The Great Fox_. The system processed it for a moment, finally locking onto the ship, still on the surface of Corneria.

The vixen pulled out a headset and tucked it over her ear. She adjusted the camera on the instrument panel so it was focused on her face. Once it was focused she placed the call.

There was a wait of a few moments as the system connected through the FTL network, then with a blip Peppy's face appeared on the screen.

The old hare smiled as they made contact. "Lisitza! I'm glad to see you. I take it the mission was a success?"

She shrugged a bit but still smiled. "It was. We all made it through the black hole, but my fighter went down as soon as the combat started. Luckily Falco, Wolf and his team were able to take care of the raiders."

The hare's face twisted with a few different emotions, then settled into a smile. "That's fantastic news. We'll be there soon, it will be another hour before we make orbit."

"Don't run too hot. I'll be grounded for at least a month. I'm going to need a full revamp of the ship's electrical system, and some extra work on the nose gear," she said, folding her hands in her lap.

The hare nodded on the screen then turned away for a few moments. "Just a second, Slippy wants to speak with you."

Lisitza leaned back in the plush seat as the hare slipped out of the screen to be replaced by the familiar face of the toad. His lips were pulled into the familiar frown he had been wearing for the last few weeks. "Hello, Slippy," she said.

"Lisitza, I'm just going to cut to quick. I've been offered a job at a research station in the Y-Sector. I've decided to take it, effective immediately."

She pulled back a bit, her ears laying back, and her tail pulling close to her body. "You're leaving?" Her voice broke slightly as she asked the question.

"I thought I made that clear."

The vixen took in a short breath and held it for a few seconds, trying to compose herself, but failing. "You're the best engineer I've ever seen, I just..." she trailed off, words failing her for the moment.

The toad shook his head. "You'll find another; I'm not the only engineer in the system."

"But why?" she finally sputtered out.

Slippy let out a sigh and slowly shook his head. "Because I was part of StarFox, not StarVixen. I don't care who you might be on the inside, but you are not Fox McCloud. You are not my friend, nor are you my commander. Seeing you everyday just reminds me of that fact, and what you are pretending to be. I'm not going to stay, and that's final."

Lisitza let out a sigh and nodded her head. She started to speak but the words failed her. Gulping she tried again. "I understand how you feel, and I'm sorry to see you go. You did a good job repairing the ship; no one could have done it as well or as fast as you did. I doubt anyone else could ever do it better. Is there anyone you could recommend?"

"Not like this crew needs. You'll find someone; there's still enough of my old friend in there to know that. I'm taking ROB with me—I'm the only one who can keep him working."

She bit her lip and sighed. With the robot gone, they would need a navigator as well. Still, Slippy was right; he was the only one who could keep the robot working, and keep the AI sane. "Okay. Good luck with keeping him together. I've enjoyed working with you for... Is Peppy going to drop you off on the way, or you leaving on Corneria?"

"I'll be off the ship before it makes orbit."

"Okay. I'm sorry to see you go," she repeated. She didn't know what else to say.

The toad said nothing at all; he just shook his head and slipped out of the screen. Peppy moved back into place, his ears dropping over his face and a deep frown on his muzzle. "I didn't know," he said in a soft voice.

"I'm not worried about that. Will you be able to make it here by yourself?"

The hare reached out of screen for a moment, then moved back into the display. "Everything has been programmed into the system. It's not as good as ROB could do, but I'll get there in about ten days."

"Start looking for a new engineer, and a new navigator. I'll see you in ten days," she said, finding that her tongue was thick in her muzzle.

Peppy nodded on the display. "I'll keep you posted."

She shook her head. "Just call me when you get here." With that said, she disconnected the Hypercom.

Lisitza leaned back into the soft seat, listening to the rain patter down on top of the canopy. She looked up at the clear glass, up through the cascading water into the dark gray sky. There was an occasional jolt of lighting, jumping through the clouds, echoing the sound of thunder a few moments later.

As she watched the rain fall around her, she decided that there was only one course of action for her to take. Only one thing any sensible person would do when faced with such a thing.

She was going to get drunk.

FIN

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission. Lisitza McCloud will return in: "A Penny for the Girl".


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